BX  8  .M3 

Manning,  William  Thomas, 

1866-1949. 
The  call   to  un  i  ty 


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THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

HEW  YORK   -  BOSTON  ■  CHICAGO  •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  ■  CALCDTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


THE  BEDELL  LECTURES  FOR  1919 

DELIVERED  AT  KEN  YON  COLLEGE 
MAY  24th  and  25th,  1920 


WILLIAM  T.  MANNING,  S.T.D.,  D.C.L. 

Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1920 

A.U  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1920, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published,  December,  1920 


TO 

WILLIAM  PORCHER  DuBOSE 

WHO 
BY  HIS  LIFE 
NOT  LESS  THAN  BY  HIS  TEACHING 
HELPED  MANY  TO  KNOW 
JESUS  CHRIST 
AS 

THE  WAY,  THE  TRUTH  AND  THE  LIFE 


PREFACE 


These  lectures,  delivered  some  months  ago,  were  put 
in  form  for  publication  before  the  recent  meeting  of 
the  Lambeth  Conference.  That  gathering  of  the 
Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Church  has  issued  a  Declara- 
tion on  Reunion  which  will  challenge  the  attention 
of  Christians  everywhere,  and  will  give  new  impetus 
to  the  movement  towards  unity. 

To  the  author  of  these  lectures  it  is  reassuring  to 
find  that  what  had  been  written  is  wholly  in  accord 
with  this  latest  pronouncement  by  those  entitled  to 
speak  for  the  Anglican  Communion.  Especially  it  is 
interesting  to  find  that  the  suggestion,  in  the  fourth 
lecture,  as  to  mutual  acceptance  of  added  authoriza- 
tion for  the  work  of  the  Ministry,  is  definitely  put 
forth  in  the  Lambeth  Declaration. 

Among  the  volumes  consulted  in  connection  with 
these  lectures  there  are  two  to  which  I  feel  under  spe- 
cial obligation.  One  of  these  is  The  Church  and 
Religious  Unity,  by  the  ,Revd.  Herbert  Kelly,  a 
masterly  and  most  truly  helpful  discussion  of  the 
subject  from  the  Catholic  point  of  view;  the  other  is 
Pathways  to  Christian  Unity,  by  six  distinguished  Free 
Church  writers,  a  volume  so  earnest  in  its  plea  for 
unity,  and  so  Christian  in  its  spirit,  that  it  is  a  refresh- 
ment to  one's  faith  and  hope  to  read  it. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Call  to  Unity   i 

II    The  Present  Outlook  for  Unity   27 

III  The  Approach  to  Unity   57 

IV  The  Call  to  the  Anglican  Communion  ...  83 


"  As  being  baptized  we  are  all  on  either  side  brothers 
and  sisters  in  Christ,  we  are  all  at  bottom  members  of  the 
universal  Church.  In  this  great  garden  of  God  let  us  shake 
hands  with  one  another  over  the  confessional  hedges,  and 
let  us  break  them  down  so  as  to  be  able  to  embrace  one 
another  altogether.  .  .  .  Let  us  examine,  compare  and  in- 
vestigate the  matter  together,  and  we  shall  discover  the 
precious  pearl  of  religious  peace  and  Church  unity,  and 
then  join  our  hands  and  forces  in  cleansing  and  cultivatirig 
the  garden  of  the  Lord,  which  is  overgrown  with  weeds." 

John  J.  L  Von  Dollinger. 


The  Church  is  divinely  organized  and  constituted  Unity 
—  a  unity  within  which  by  free  interrelation  and  interaction 
different  points  of  view,  impressions,  emphases,  perspectives, 
and  so  theories,  doctrines,  systems,  etc.,  may  correct,  sup- 
plement, and  complete  one  another  and  bring  all  to  the  essen- 
tial and  sufficient  unity  that  not  only  belongs  to  them  but 
can  come  only  through  their  all-sided  contributions. 

Incidentally  we  may  say  of  Sects  in  Christianity  that  their 
evil  is  expressed  in  the  word  itself:  they  are  organized  and 
isolated  differences  and  diversities.  Their  partial  and  em- 
phasized good  is  withdrawn  from  communication  to  and 
influence  upon  others ;  their  deficiencies,  ignorances  or  er- 
rors are  removed  from  supplementing  or  correction  by  others. 
They  are  destructive  of  that  Oneness  in  Christ  which  is  the 
essence  and  definition  of  Christianity,  which  is  ours  in  spite 
of  our  differences,  and  within  which  our  differences  would 
quickly  melt  down  into  not  merely  pardonable,  or  permissible, 
but  even  contributory  and  completive  diversities. 


William  Porcher  DuBose. 
xi 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


I 

THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

The  whole  world  to-day  is  moved  by  the  thought  of 
fellowship.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that  we  feel 
more  than  ever  the  incongruity  of  our  lack  of  fellow- 
ship in  the  Christian  Church.  The  desire  for  fellow- 
ship among  Christians  has  in  fact  reached  a  new  point 
of  progress.  It  has  ceased  to  be  merely  a  pious  aspira- 
tion, and  has  become  a  world  wide  movement.  Never 
since  the  divisions  in  the  Church  of  Christ  took  place 
has  the  need  of  reunion  been  felt  as  it  is  now.  And 
this  necessity  is  being  forced  home  upon  us  from  many 
sides.  Hard  facts  are  driving  us  to  see  the  evils,  and 
the  perils  of  our  present  situation. 

The  outbreak  of  the  world  war  burned  into  our  souls 
the  weakness  of  a  divided  Christianity.  We  saw  that, 
as  a  power  to  preserve  peace  among  men,  the  Church 
did  not  seriously  count.  Its  voice  was  not  heard  speak- 
ing unitedly  and  clearly  for  those  principles  of  justice 
and  righteousness  upon  which  alone  peace  can  rest.  Its 
influence  in  the  hour  of  the  world's  crisis  was  negli- 


2 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


gible.  And  the  whole  course  of  events  since  has  served 
to  make  this  inadequacy  clearer  to  us.  Whatever  ex- 
planation, or  defense,  or  paUiation  there  may  be  for 
them,  it  is  plain  that  our  divisions  are  a  disaster  to  the 
cause  of  Christ.  Before  the  present  unprecedented 
need  of  the  world,  the  Christian  Church  stands  with 
her  life  enfeebled,  her  witness  weakened,  her  message 
in  large  measure  discredited  by  her  own  differences  and 
dissensions. 

Christian  Unity  is  no  mere  ecclesiastical  problem. 
It  is  the  greatest,  and  the  most  far  reaching  of  all  pres- 
ent day  questions.  It  lies  back  of,  and  holds  the  key  to, 
all  our  other  problems,  national  and  international,  so- 
cial, political  and  economic.  As  men  face  the  tremen- 
dous responsibilities  and  tasks  of  this  new  time,  they  are 
feeling  the  need  of  support  and  guidance.  They  know 
that  if  there  is  to  be  a  new  order  it  must  be  filled  with  a 
new  spirit.  They  are  looking  for  moral  and  spiritual 
strength  and  help.  But  they  are  not  looking,  with  con- 
fidence, to  the  Church  for  this.  A  disunited  Church 
cannot  call  forth  the  faith  of  men,  nor  give  the  message 
of  Christ  to  the  world.  Its  own  inconsistency,  and  self- 
contradiction  are  too  evident.  How  can  the  world 
learn  the  Gospel  of  fellowship  from  an  organization 
which  is  at  variance  with  itself?  What  power  is  there 
in  an  appeal  for  a  united  world  issued  by  a  divided 
Church?  What  force  is  there  in  a  plea  for  brother- 
hood by  those  who  fail  to  give  evidence  of  brotherli- 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  3 

ness?  Such  an  appeal  suggests  at  once  the  retort: 
"  Physician,  heal  thyself." 

The  Christian  Church  is  commissioned  to  show  the 
world  the  true  meaning  of  human  brotherhood.  It 
is  for  this  that  the  Church  is  set  here  among  men. 
It  is  to  preach  and  to  be,  the  truest  realization  of  fel- 
lowship ever  seen  on  this  earth ;  a  fellowship  which 
transcends  all  bounds  of  nation,  or  race,  or  color;  a  fel- 
lowship blessed,  made  holy  and  complete,  in  oneness 
with  Jesus  Christ.  This  fellowship  was  to  be  the  proof 
of  the  Church's  Divine  mission  and  of  the  power  of 
Him  in  Whose  Name  she  speaks.  While  the  Church 
fails  to  furnish  this  proof,  can  we  wonder  if  the  world 
listens  to  her  message  with  doubt  and  uncertainty  ? 

The  Church  should  be  the  inspiration  and  guiding 
force  of  the  present  movements  for  social  advance. 
Changes  far  greater  than  any  of  us  realize  are  taking 
place.  We  have  entered  into  a  new  era.  Vast  prob- 
lems are  pressing  for  solution.  The  truer  order  of 
cooperation,  fellowship,  brotherhood  is  to  be  estab- 
lished. In  all  this  the  Church  should  be  not  a  spec- 
tator, nor  a  mere  sympathetic  influence,  but  the  great 
guiding  power.  The  one  true  hope  for  the  world  is 
that  these  movements  shall  be  actuated  by  the  spirit, 
and  the  principles,  of  Christ.  There  should  now  be  a 
world-wide  call  from  the  Church  for  a  redeemed  social 
order,  in  which  the  spirit  and  law  of  Christ  shall  rule, 
for  the  bringing  of  Christian  principles  into  the  whole 


4  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

fabric  of  modern  civilization ;  for  the  Christianization 
of  every  department  of  life.  Who  but  the  Church 
can  issue  such  a  call?  What  other  power  but  that 
of  religion  is  able  to  bring  the  spirit  of  brotherhood 
into  human  relationships  and  "  to  make  justice  and  love 
the  controlling  motive  in  all  social  conditions  "  ?  But 
her  own  divided  state  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
Church  to  give  such  a  call  with  effect.  "  Doth  a  foun- 
tain send  forth  at  the  same  place  sweet  water  and 
bitter?"  Can  a  Church  which  is  divided  by  the 
spirit  of  sect  liberate  men's  hearts  from  the  spirit 
of  class  and  of  caste?  Can  a  Church  which  main- 
tains barriers  of  religious  antagonism  and  division 
be  the  herald  of  cooperation,  and  of  the  common  life? 
Can  a  Church  in  which  men  are  separated  into  com- 
petitive and  rival  groups  preach  effectively  the  so- 
cial message  of  the  Gospel?  In  his  interesting  essay 
on  "  Christianity  and  the  Working  Classes,"  Mr. 
Arthur  Henderson  very  pointedly  asks  "  Is  Christi- 
anity, as  we  have  it  represented  to-day,  split  up  as  it 
is  into  almost  innumerable  denominational  churches, 
capable  of  dealing  adequately  with  the  growing  forces 
of  reaction?"  and  he  adds:  "However  much  Chris- 
tians may  console  themselves  that  a  Church  divided  into 
numerous  sects  is  justified  and,  as  many  think,  a  source 
of  strength,  the  multitude  is  slow  to  believe  in  a  Chris- 
tianity so  divided."  ^ 

^  Christianity  and  the  Working  Classes,  pp.  125,  126. 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  5 

Of  the  practical  waste,  the  squandering  of  energy, 
time  and  resources,  occasioned  by  our  divisions  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak.  We  see  the  evidences  of 
this  on  every  hand.  It  is  obvious  that  the  energies 
which,  as  Christians,  we  devote  to  controversy  and 
conflict  with  each  other  should  be  concentrated  on  the 
one  great  purpose  for  which  the  Church  exists.  But 
the  overlapping,  the  duplication  of  effort,  the  compe- 
tition and  rivalry  among  Christians  are  worse  than 
mere  waste  of  power,  serious  as  this  is.  They  are  a 
spectacle  which  lessens  the  faith  of  men,  which  brings 
religion  into  disrepute,  and  which  does  daily  hurt  to 
the  cause  of  Christ.  Men  generally  are  not  hostile 
to  religion,  but  the  message  of  Christ  seems  to  them 
confused  and  uncertain.  Amid  the  controversies  of 
the  churches  they  cannot  hear  the  great  central  mes- 
sage of  the  Church.  The  fact  which  they  see  clearly 
is  that,  however  the  divisions  may  be  accounted  for, 
they  conflict  with  the  Church's  own  teaching,  and 
contradict  her  own  fundamental  principles.  They 
know  that  whatever  else  the  Church  of  Christ  stands 
for  it  must,  if  it  truly  represents  Him,  stand  for  har- 
mony, not  for  discord,  for  peace,  not  for  dissension, 
for  fellowship,  brotherhood  and  love.  A  divided 
Church  is  giving  us  a  non-believing  world. 

Here  in  the  United  States,  in  the  life  of  our  own 
country,  the  practical  results  of  the  disunity  among 
Christians  are  only  too  apparent.    One  of  its  most 


6 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


serious  results  is  the  complete  divorce  of  religion  from 
our  system  of  public  education.  This  land  in  which 
we  live  is  a  Christian  land.  It  was  the  distinct  in- 
tention of  its  founders  that  it  should  be  such.  As 
Bishop  Gailor  reminds  us,  in  his  Bedell  Lectures,  this 
nation  "  was  founded  by  Christian  men  with  the  de- 
liberate purpose  of  extending  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  religion,"  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  has  specifically  declared  that  the  Chris- 
tian Religion  is  part  of  the  common  law  of  our  coun- 
try.^ It  was  George  Washington  who  said  "  Reason 
and  experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national 
morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious  prin- 
ciple." ..."  To  the  distinguished  character  of  pa- 
triot it  should  be  our  highest  glory  to  add  the  more 
distinguished  character  of  Christian."  And  yet  we 
cannot  teach  the  children  in  our  public  schools  even 
the  bare  rudiments  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  re- 
ligious divisions  among  us  forbid  our  doing  so. 
)  The  whole  fabric  of  democracy  is  based  on  belief 
in  God.  Everything  is  staked  on  the  right  judgment 
and  moral  principle  of  the  people.  Education  alone 
does  not  give  moral  principle.  A  trained  intellect  has 
no  necessary  connection  with  right  conduct.  There 
is  no  other  basis  for  moral  conduct  except  religion. 
The  distinction  between  right  and  wrong  disappears, 
or  becomes  a  mere  convention,  if  we  cease  to  recog- 

1  The  Christian  Church  and  Education,  p.  48. 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  7 

nize  God  and  His  law.  But  as  to  this  upon  which  the 
character  of  our  people,  and  the  life  of  our  country 
depend,  our  schools  are  compelled  to  keep  silence. 
Children  are  influenced  more  by  what  we  do  than 
by  what  we  say.  And  between  our  provision  for  them 
in  regard  to  education  and  our  provision  for  them  in 
regard  to  religion  they  see  a  contrast  which  cannot 
fail  to  impress  them.  They  see  their  education  care- 
fully provided  for  by  the  State,  and  religion  carefully 
excluded.  With  their  companions,  on  six  days  in  each 
week,  they  enter  the  door  of  the  one  schoolhouse ;  on 
the  other  day  they  go  in  separated  groups,  if  they  go  at 
all,  to  dififering,  and  rival,  religious  teachers.  As  to 
education  they  see  visible  unity ;  as  to  religion  they  see 
visible  dissension  and  disunity.  A  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of  New  York  was  re- 
ported recently  as  saying,  "  We  fully  understand  that 
a  system  of  education  from  which  God  and  religion  are 
excluded  provides  only  for  a  civilization  which  must 
crumble  to  pieces."  And  it  is  the  divisions  among 
Christians  which  are  compelling  us  to  maintain  such  a 
system. 

It  was  no  religious  partisan,  but  the  late  Thomas 
H.  Huxley,  who  wrote,  "  I  have  always  been  strongly 
in  favor  of  secular  education,  in  the  sense  of  edu- 
cation without  theology ;  but  I  confess  I  have  been 
no  less  seriously  perplexed  to  know  by  what  practical 
measures  the  religious  feeling,  which  is  the  essential 


8 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


basis  of  right  conduct,  was  to  be  kept  up,  in  the  pres- 
ent utterly  chaotic  state  of  opinion  upon  these  mat- 
ters, without  the  use  of  the  Bible." 

We  are  not  willing  even  to  entertain  the  thought 
that  America  may  cease  to  be  a  Christian  nation. 
But  the  facts  are  such  as  may  well  give  us  grave  con- 
cern. Human  society  does  not  remain  Christian  of 
its  own  inherent  impulse,  without  pains  or  effort. 
Christian  faith  and  principle  do  not  persist  of  their 
own  momentum.  Fruits  do  not  continue  without 
roots.  The  United  States  Census  of  1916  shows  two 
hundred  and  two  different  religious  denominations. 
But  in  our  population  of  more  than  one  hundred 
million  people  less  than  forty-two  million  acknowledge 
connection  with  any  kind  of  religion.  Trustworthy 
statistics  show  that  an  actually  incredible  number  of 
the  young  people  of  our  land  are  growing  up  without 
definite  religious  teaching  of  any  sort.  A  volume, 
just  published,  by  Charles  Otis  Gill  and  Gifford 
Pinchot,  gives  the  results  of  a  careful  investigation 
of  conditions  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  State  of 
Ohio.  This  report  reveals  a  decline,  both  religiously 
and  morally,  which  is  startling,  and  the  situation  is 
shown  to  be  worst  in  that  portion  of  the  State  where 
the  American  stock  predominates  and  the  foreign 
born  population  is  small. 

"  In  this  area,"  the  authors  say,  "  after  more  than 
a  hundred  years  of  the  work  of  the  Churches,  the  re- 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  9 

ligious,  social,  and  economic  welfare  of  the  people  is 
going  down.  Although  the  Churches  have  been  here 
for  more  than  a  century,  no  normal  type  of  organized 
religion  is  really  flourishing,  while  the  only  kind 
which,  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  has  been  gaining 
ground  —  the  cult  of  the  Holy  Rollers  —  is  scarcely 
better  than  that  of  a  dervish.  The  Churches  have 
failed,  and  are  failing,  to  dispel  ignorance  and  super- 
stition, to  prevent  the  increase  of  vice,  the  spread  of 
disease,  and  the  general  moral  and  spiritual  decadence 
of  the  people.  Imbeciles,  feeble-minded,  and  delin- 
quents are  numerous,  politics  is  corrupt,  the  selling  of 
votes  is  common,  petty  crimes  abound,  the  schools  have 
been  badly  managed  and  poorly  attended.  Cases  of 
rape,  assault,  and  robbery  are  of  almost  weekly  occur- 
rence within  five  minutes'  walk  of  one  of  the  county 
seats,  while  in  another  county  political  control  is  held 
by  a  self-confessed  criminal."  ^ 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  conditions  in 
Ohio  are  exceptionally  bad.  On  the  contrary,  this 
State  was  selected  as  the  field  for  investigation  be- 
cause it  is  central  and  representative,  its  country  dis- 
tricts contain  great  numbers  of  churches,  the  average 
for  the  State  is  in  fact  one  church  for  every  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  persons,  its  religious  life  includes  all 
the  stronger  denominations,  and  has  been  established 
for  a  century.    In  the  eighteen  counties  investigated 

^  Six  Thousand  Churches,  Macmillan  and  Co. 


10 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


there  are,  in  two  hundred  and  eight  rural  townships, 
fifteen  hundred  and  forty-two  churches,  divided  among 

f  seventeen  different  denominations.  It  is  not  the  fail- 
ure of  Protestantism  that  we  see  here,  nor  the  failure 

1  of  Catholicism.  It  is  the  failure  of  both.  It  is  the 
inadequacy  and  ineffectiveness  of  a  divided  Chris- 
tianity. What  is  the  picture  of  the  Christian  religion 
which  is  presented  week  by  week  to  our  people  in  what 
is  called  the  "religious  page"  of  our  daily  papers? 
In  that  exhibit  of  rival  religious  agencies,  varying  in 
their  teaching  from  Roman  Catholicism  at  one  end  of 
the  list  to  Spiritism,  Christian  Science  and  New 
Thought  at  the  other,  does  the  average  American  see 
a  sight  to  inspire  him  with  faith  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ?  Could  anything  be  more  confusing  to  the 
minds,  or  less  assuring  to  the  faith  of  men,  than  the 
spectacle  there  offered  to  them?  And  yet  this  Babel 
of  discordant  voices  is  a  photographic  representation 
of  what  we  venture  to  call  "  our  common  Christi- 
anity." The  plain  man  may  be  forgiven  if  he  can  see 
in  it  little  that  is  either  "  common  "  or  Christian.  It 
is  a  picture  which  casts  doubt  and  discredit  on  Christ 
and  His  Gospel.  If  Christ  cannot  bring  His  own  fol- 
lowers together  in  fellowship  and  brotherhood,  how 
can  men  believe  in  His  power?  If  Christians  are  un- 
able to  agree  among  themselves  as  to  the  essential 
truth  of  the  Gospel  is  it  surprising  if  the  world  is  un- 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


II 


convinced,  or  if  men  conclude  that  all  questions  of  be- 
lief are  unimportant? 

Even  within  the  household  of  the  various  Commun- 
ions the  effect  of  our  present  divided  state  is  deeply 
felt.  The  faith  of  the  whole  body  of  Christians  is 
weakened  and  impaired  by  it.  Great  numbers  of 
those  who  were  brought  up  in  these  different  faiths  are 
adrift,  without  clear  religious  belief,  or  definite  con- 
viction. Many  of  those  whose  parents  were  earnest 
Christians,  and  whose  family  names  have  long  been 
on  the  records  of  the  Church,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
ranks  of  the  apparently  indifferent.  In  the  battle 
against  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  against  the  anti- 
Christian  forces  at  work  in  the  intellectual  world, 
against  the  spirit  of  pure  paganism  now  manifesting 
itself  in  our  literature,  in  our  art,  in  the  present 
standards,  or  lack  of  standards,  in  much  of  our  social 
life,  we  need  the  testimony  and  the  power  of  a  united 
Christianity.  Our  divisions  are  giving  the  forces  of 
evil  and  unbelief  a  terrible  advantage. 

But  if  our  disunity  weakens  and  stultifies  the  work 
of  the  Church  here  in  our  own  land,  where  we  are 
familiar  with  the  disputes,  and  know  something  of 
their  history,  what  shall  be  said  of  its  effect  in  the 
Mission  fields,  in  the  work  of  world-evangelization? 
The  question  is  one  which  answers  itself.  Here  the 
inconsistency  of  our  divided  state,  and  the  harm 


12 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


wrought  by  it,  come  out  into  full  view.  Why  should 
those  who  know  nothing  of  the  Gospel  listen  to  us 
until  we  can  agree  among  ourselves  as  to  what  is  its 
essential  message?  What  success  would  the  first  mis- 
sionaries, the  Apostles  themselves,  have  had  if  they 
had  gone  out  from  Jerusalem  disagreeing  as  to  the 
common  Faith,  refusing  to  hold  communion  with  each 
other,  carrying  rival  and  conflicting  messages  in  the 
Name  of  the  one  Christ?  From  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  the  devoted  men  and  women  who  are  giving 
their  lives  as  missionaries  send  back  to  us  the  same  testi- 
mony. They  tell  us  that  if  Christ  is  to  be  made  known 
to  the  heathen  world  the  divisions  among  Christians 
must  cease,  that  they  are  the  greatest  of  all  hin- 
drances, a  practically  insuperable  obstacle,  to  the 
carrying  out  of  our  Lord's  command  to  "  make  di- 
sciples of  all  the  nations." 

The  Bishop  of  Domakal,  the  only  native  of  India 
in  the  Anglican  Episcopate,  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of 
the  situation.  Stating  that  there  are  one  hundred 
million  people  in  India  beyond  the  reach  of  any  ex- 
isting missionary  agency,  and  deploring  the  waste  of 
effort  caused  by  unnecessary  multiplication  of  missions 
in  the  same  district,  the  Bishop  declared  a  few  weeks 
ago  that  if  there  could  be  a  union  of  spiritual  forces 
this  would  soon  result  in  doubling  the  number  of 
Christians  in  India.  In  his  address  as  reported,  the 
Bishop  said:  "Another  evil  of  the  present  state  of 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  1 3 

things  was  the  confusion  created  in  the  minds  of  non- 
Christian  Indians.  Again  and  again  he  had  been  asked 
by  educated  Indians  to  explain  our  differences.  Again 
and  again  he  had  tried  to  tell  them  we  are  all  one,  but 
always  he  was  conscious  that  they  saw  two  churches 
within  one  hundred  yards.  In  the  large  towns  when  a 
Hindoo  became  a  Christian  there  was  a  real  competition 
between  the  various  bodies  of  Christians  to  convince 
him  that  theirs  was  the  one  true  representation  of 
Christianity.  Converts  had  told  him  that  they  were 
happy  enough  after  their  conversion  until  their  baptism, 
but  as  this  drew  near  the  quarrels  amongst  Christian 
ministers  as  each  sought  to  obtain  them  almost  made 
them  draw  back.  .  .  .  There  are  many  Indians  who 
would  have  Christ  but  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
Christianity  that  has  come  from  the  West,  because 
of  the  bitterness  and  rivalry  it  has  brought  with  it." 

The  thought  of  unity  may  well  be  in  our  minds.  ] 
The  disastrous  consequences  of  our  divisions  are  all  too  j 
clear.    The  most  hopeful  feature  of  the  existing  sit-  I 
nation  is  that  earnest  Christians  everywhere  are  realiz-  ! 
ing  its  hopelessness.    We  see  the  Christian  Church 
disqualified  for  her  task  of  world-service,  unable  to  I 
speak  with  a  corporate  voice,  without  power  to  meet 
the  deep  needs,  and  the  magnificent  opportunities 
which  now  confront  her.    We  see  the  waste  of  power 
and  resources,  the  over-churching  and  the  under- 
churching,  the  jealousies  and  unholy  rivalries  which 


14 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


result  from  the  present  state  of  things.  We  see  the 
faith  of  men  lessened,  their  minds  confused  as  to  the 
message  of  the  Gospel,  the  Church's  own  spiritual  life 
weakened  and  impoverished,  her  vision  of  the  truth 
narrowed  and  restricted. 

We  see  all  this,  and  more,  as  the  practical  result 
of  the  dissensions  and  divisions  within  the  Christian 
family.  But  unanswerable  as  the  argument  for  re- 
union is  from  the  practical  side  this  is  not  the  only, 
nor  the  chief,  ground  of  its  appeal  to  us.  For  all  be- 
lieving Christians  there  is  a  call  to  unity  higher,  and 
more  sacred,  than  this. 

It  is  not  sufficient  for  us  to  base  the  appeal  for 
unity  only  on  the  lower  grounds  of  expediency,  or  of 
economy,  or  of  more  effective  ministration.  We  fall 
far  short  of  the  truth  and  of  its  full  claim  upon  us  if 
we  rest  the  case  here.  Our  desire  for  unity  has  a 
deeper  source,  our  hope  for  it  a  surer  foundation  than 
our  own  wisdom  and  judgment,  our  sense  of  loss 
through  our  divisions,  or  our  feeling  that  unity  would 
be  practically  advantageous.  Unity  is  not  merely 
some  plan,  or  scheme,  or  vision  of  ours.  The  call  to 
unity  is  from  Christ  Himself,  and  therefore  it  conies 
with  compelling  power  to  all  Christians,  Catholic  and 
Protestant  alike.  This  is  the  fact  which  we  all  need 
to  have  more  clearly  before  us.  And  this  fact  is  now 
being  recognized  with  new  clearness  by  Christians  of  all 
names.    In  a  most  helpful  and  noteworthy  volume  en- 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  1 5 

titled  Pathways  to  Christian  Unity,  six  distinguished 
and  representative  ministers  of  the  EngUsh  Free 
Churches,  unite  in  the  following  statement :  "  A  more 
careful  reading  of  the  Gospels  has  made  it  clear  that 
our  present  divisions  are  contrary  to  the  mind  of 
Christ,  and  that  unity  is  implicit  in  the  very  idea  of 
the  Church.  As  Christ  formed  it,  the  Church  was 
one,  even  as  the  Gospel  is  one,  and  God  is  one.  A 
thorough-going  examination  of  the  Acts  and  the  Epis- 
tles has  left  it  beyond  doubt  that  in  the  Apostolic 
Church,  amid  considerable  diversity  of  type  and  polity, 
unity  was  regarded  as  an  essential  note,  a  unity  spir- 
itual first  but  also  visible  and  effective."  .  .  .  ^^JWe 
are  not  dealing  then  with  a  question  of  convenience 
merely,  with  a  utilitarian  arrangement,  to  save  over- 
lapping and  wasteful  rivalry.  We  are  concerned  with 
something  deeper;  the  more  adequate  expression  of 
the  spiritual  reality;  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine  pur- 
pose. The  Apostles  and  members  of  the  early  Church 
rightly  apprehended  the  mind  of  Christ  in  this  matter. 
The  New  Testament  and  all  its  writers  bear  a  con- 
sistent witness  to  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Diligence 
was  exercised  in  keeping  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
bond  of  peace,  and  great  pains  were  taken  to  prevent 
division."  ..."  This  exposition  of  the  teaching  and 
practice  of  New  Testament  times  has  for  us  far  more 
than  an  academic  interest.  The  mind  of  Christ  is 
regulative;  His  will  is  commanding.    If  we  believe 


i6 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


that  our  Lord  meant  us  to  be  all  in  a  visible  fellow- 
ship, we  dare  not  rest  in  our  state  of  disunion.  The 
rallying  point  for  united  Christendom  is  common 
loyalty  to  the  leadership  of  our  Lord."  ^  Careful  and 
open  minded  study  of  the  New  Testament  will,  as 
these  writers  say,  make  clear  to  any  of  us  that  it  is 
Christ's  will  that  His  Church  shall  be  one. 

It  is  from  Christ  Himself  that  the  call  comes  to  us. 

In  His  last  prayer  on  earth  for  His  disciples,  re- 
corded in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel, 
the  petition  "  that  they  all  may  be  one  "  is  four  times 
repeated.  It  is  often  urged  that  in  this  prayer  our 
Lord  had  in  mind  the  inner  unity  of  the  Spirit  which 
should  bind  His  disciples  together,  and  beyond  ques- 
tion this  is  true.  But  it  is  clear  also  that  He  had  in 
mind  a  unity  of  the  Spirit  which  was  to  be  visibly 
manifested.  The  oneness  of  His  followers  is  to  be 
the  evidence  to  the  world  of  His  Divine  power  and 
mission.  He  prays  not  for  a  unity  which  is  invisible 
but  for  a  unity  which  men  shall  see  and  which  shall 
bring  them  to  belief  in  Him.  His  prayer  to  the  Fa- 
ther for  His  disciples  is  "  that  they  also  may  be  one  in 
Us ;  that  the  world  may  believe  that  Thou  hast  sent 
Me."  And  the  acts  of  Christ  are  in  accord  with  His 
prayer.  He  not  only  prays.  He  also  provides,  that 
the  spiritual  unity  of  His  disciples  shall  have  visible 
expression.    He  forms  a  society  into  which  all  His 

1  Pp.  22,  25,  26.   Macmillan  and  Co. 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  1 7 

followers  are  to  be  gathered,  and  this  society  He  calls 
His  Church.  This  society  which  our  Lord  Himself 
forms  is  both  inward  and  outward,  both  spiritual  and 
visible.  It  is  a  Kingdom  of  the  Spirit,  a  Kingdom 
"  within  you,"  but  it  has  also  tangible  existence  and 
embodiment.  Our  Lord  chooses  and  trains  its  first 
officers,  appoints  its  visible  observances,  the  sacraments 
of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  which  are  to  be 
continued  forever,  and  promises  to  be  with  it  "  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  This  was  the 
Church  of  the  New  Testament  as  all  the  first  disciples 
I  knew  it,  and  were  gathered  into  it.  The  New  Testa- 
;  ment  knows  nothing  of  "  churches,"  except  as  local 
:  parts  of  the  one  Church  founded  by  Christ  Himself. 
Saint  Paul  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  what  this  fact 
of  the  one  Church,  the  one  Spirit  manifested  in  one 
Body,  the  visible  fellowship  of  all  believers  in  Christ 
means  to  him. 

We  think  of  St.  Paul,  rightly,  as  the  great  Apostle 
of  Christian  liberty,  but  he  is  equally,  and  even  more 
distinctively,  the  Apostle  of  Christian  unity.  To  St. 
Paul  this  fact  of  the  Church  is  of  the  very  essence  of 
the  Gospel.  In  the  Church  he  sees,  as  indeed  do  all 
the  New  Testament  writers,  the  actual  carrying  into 
effect,  the  practical  realization  of  that  which  Christ 
came  into  this  world  to  do. 

The  Church  is  the  means  which  God  has  appointed 
for  bringing  to  Himself  all  mankind,  in  the  fellowship 


i8 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


of  His  dear  Son.  It  is  the  Qiurch  which  gives  the 
Gospel  actuality  and  meaning.  As  St.  Paul  sees  and 
understands  them  Christ  and  His  Church  cannot  be 
separated.  On  the  way  to  Damascus,  the  persecutor 
of  the  Church,  he  has  heard  the  voice  saying  "  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me? "  To  St.  Paul  the 
Church  is  not  something  apart  from,  or  additional  to 
the  Gospel,  a  voluntary  association  of  those  who  be- 
lieve formed  for  convenience  or  effectiveness  in  work. 
The  Church  is  an  integral  part  of  the  Gospel,  insep- 
arable from  it,  and  necessary  to  its  life.  Without  it 
'the  Gospel  would  itself  be  incomplete  and  unintelligi- 
Ible.  The  Church  is  Jesus  Christ  Himself  still  alive, 
'  still  present,  still  manifested  in  the  fellowship  of  those 
who  believe  in  Him  and  are  joined  to  Him  by  the 
Spirit.  As  St.  Paul  contemplates  this  truth,  and  lives 
it,  the  wonder  of  it  increases,  the  depth  of  its  meaning 
grows  upon  him.  He  can  find  no  language  sufficient, 
no  terms  strong  enough,  to  give  it  expression.  His 
words  burn  and  glow  as  we  read  them.  He  adds 
phrase  to  phrase,  and  figure  to  figure,  in  the  effort  to 
make  clear  its  revelation  of  God's  goodness  and  love. 
His  great  desire  is  to  make  all  men  see  "  what  is  the 
exceeding  greatness  of  His  power  to  us  who  believe, 
according  to  the  working  of  His  mighty  power,  which 
He  wrought  in  Christ  when  He  raised  Him  from  the 
dead  and  set  Him  at  His  own  right  hand  in  heavenly 
places,  far  above  all  principality,  and  power,  and 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  I9 

might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named, 
not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is 
to  come ;  and  hath  put  all  things  under  His  feet, 
and  gave  Him  to  be  the  Head  over  all  things  to  the 
Church,  which  is  His  body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that 
filleth  all  in  all."  ^ 

The  Church,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  is  the  body  of  the 
living  Christ.  Christ  and  His  Church  are  not  two, 
they  are  one.  The  Church  can  only  be  one,  because 
it  is  the  body  of  the  one  Christ.  It  is  the  living  fel- 
lowship of  all  who  share  Christ's  life,  all  who  by  the 
Spirit  are  made  one  with  Him.  It  is  the  unity  of  all 
who  are  His,  both  in  this  world  and  in  Paradise. 
There  can  no  more  be  two  Churches  than  there  can  be 
two  Christs.  Christians  may  fail  to  recognize,  or  may 
deny,  their  fellowship  in  Christ,  but  it  still  exists,  and 
in  this  lies  the  deep  wrong  of  division.  This  is  the 
basic,  fundamental  truth  which  St.  Paul  sees  and  de- 
clares with  such  power.  The  Gospel  means  not  only 
that  which  took  place  at  Bethlehem,  and  that  which 
was  done  on  Calvary,  it  means  the  embodiment  and 
manifestation  of  the  risen  and  ascended  Christ  in  the 
visible  fellowship  of  His  followers,  in  whom,  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  He  continues  His  life  and 
work  in  this  world.  The  very  proof  of  the  Gospel  is 
its  power  to  bind  men  and  women  of  every  sort  to- 
gether in  a  new  life  of  fellowship  with  Christ  and  with 

1  Ephesians  i,  19-23. 


20 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


each  other.  The  Apostle  will  hear  of  nothing  which 
obscures  this,  or  weakens  it,  or  conflicts  with  it.  In 
the  striking  words  of  a  well  known  New  Testament 
scholar  "  the  great  struggle  of  his  life  was  not  to  claim 
permission  for  Gentiles  to  form  Gentile  churches  side 
by  side  with  the  Jewish  Churches  but  to  preserve  the 
completest  inter-communion  between  Jewish  and  Gen- 
tile believers  in  Christ.  It  was  the  refusal  of  Jews 
to  eat  with  Gentiles  —  a  refusal  which  must  have  ne- 
cessitated separate  eucharists  —  which  he  denounced 
as  fundamentally  unchristian,  when  even  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Barnabas  for  a  moment  lent  it  their  sanction." 

"  St.  Paul's  whole  career  was  shaped  by  his  convic- 
tion and  determination  that  comprehension  and  unity 
were  and  should  be  essential  notes  of  the  Christian 
Church.  Not  far  an  instant  could  he  allow  the  posi- 
tion that  the  city  of  Antioch  might  contain  two  bodies 
of  baptized  persons,  agreeing  in  their  Christian  faith, 
recipients  of  the  same  Holy  Ghost,  and  yet  separated 
from  communion  with  one  another  in  the  breaking  of 
bread.  Two  bodies  and  one  spirit  was  a  thought  un- 
thinkable to  him.  '  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,' 
he  cries  to  the  Galatians,  to  whom  he  has  repeated 
the  story  of  that  crisis,  '  there  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek,  there  is  neither  bondman  nor  freeman,  there 
is  no  male  and  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  —  one  man 
—  in  Christ  Jesus.'  "  ^ 

1  The  Vision  of  Unity,  by  J.  Armitage  Robinson,  pp.  17,  18. 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


21 


No  one  has  ever  urged  the  call  to  unity  and  its 
claim  upon  all  Christians  with  such  power,  and  pas- 
sion, as  St.  Paul  does.  If  the  great  Apostle  were  now 
here  with  us  in  the  flesh  there  is  no  question  as  to 
what  his  counsel  would  be  to  us. 

In  the  confusion  and  weakness  of  our  disunity  his 
words  come  to  us  to-day  as  a  ringing  challenge.  "  I 
hear  that  there  be  divisions  among  you."  "  Is  Christ 
divided?  "  "  Mark  them  which  cause  divisions."  "  I 
beseech  you  brethren  by  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there 
be  no  divisions  among  you."  "  For  as  the  body  is 
one  and  hath  many  members,  but  all  the  members  of 
the  body,  many  though  they  be,  are  one  body,  so  also 
is  the  Christ :  for  by  one  Spirit  have  we  all  been  bap- 
tized into  one  body." 

The  facts  as  to  our  present  condition,  and  the  plain 
New  Testament  teaching  as  to  the  Church  would 
seem  to  leave  us  without  apology  or  defense  for  the 
continuance  of  our  divisions.  We  must  win  back 
all  of  us  the  vision  of  the  Church  of  Christ  as  St. 
Paul  sees  it  and  shows  it  to  us,  the  Church  Divinely 
founded  to  be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  the 
dispenser  of  heavenly  grace,  the  Body  and  the  Bride 
of  Christ.  It  is  this  New  Testament,  Divinely  given 
ideal  of  the  Church  which  is  needed  to  draw  us  all 
together,  and  fill  us  with  longing  for  the  full  realiza- 
tion, and  manifestation,  of  our  fellowship  in  the  one 


22 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


Lord.  It  is  not  enough  for  us  to  go  on  faithfully 
and  passively  in  our  separated  Communions.  As 
Christians  we  have  no  right  to  acquiesce  in  conditions 
as  they  are.  It  is  time  for  all  of  us  to  realize  that, 
while  we  owe  a  proper  loyalty  to  our  own  Com- 
munions, our  supreme  loyalty  is  due  to  the  one 
Church,  the  Body  of  Christ,  into  which  we  are  bap- 
tized, and  of  which  we  are  all  members.  Our  sep- 
arations and  divisions  have  led  many  of  us  to  a  poor 
and  inadequate  view  of  the  Church.  They  have  led 
some  of  us  even  to  suspicion  and  depreciation  of  it,  as 
though  loyalty  to  the  Church  might  in  some  way  come 
between  us  and  Christ.  There  is  a  demand  in  some 
quarters  for  a  Christianity  without  the  Church. 
Nothing  could  be  more  out  of  harmony  with  the  teach- 
ing of  St.  Paul,  and  of  the  whole  New  Testament. 
The  one  Church  has  been  too  much  hidden  from  us 
by  "  the  churches."  The  Free  Church  writers  of  the 
book  Pathways  to  Christian  Unity,  already  quoted, 
say,  "  It  is  small  wonder  that  the  vision  of  the  One, 
Holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  is  obscured. 
Amid  our  preoccupations  with  sectional  interests,  and 
our  emphasis  on  denominational  dififerences,  we  can- 
not be  surprised  that  among  a  great  body  of  church- 
men the  idea  of  the  Church  no  longer  kindles  imagina- 
tion, nor  evokes  warm  affection."  ..."  The  removal 
of  our  denominational  walls  would  increase  the  ranges 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  23 

of  our  vision,  and  bring  into  clearer  focus  the  one 
Church  of  Christ  in  all  its  majesty  and  glory." 

There  may  be  those  who  can  regard  the  present  di- 
vided state  of  the  Church  with  indif¥erence.  There 
may  even  be  those  who  prefer  that  things  should  re- 
main as  they  are,  who  fear  the  power  that  a  United 
Church  might  exercise  in  the  world.  And  for  that 
fear  there  may  be  good  ground.  A  Church  united 
in  the  Spirit  of  Christ  would  exercise  a  power  such  as 
that  which  the  Gospel  showed  in  the  first  days.  It  is 
quite  true  that  a  "  half  pagan  civilization  has  less  to 
I   fear  from  a  divided  and  distracted  church."  ^ 

But  to  all  who  believe  in  Christ  as  the  Redeemer 
and  Lord  of  human  life,  the  one  and  only  Saviour  of 
the  world,  the  present  situation  is  an  intolerable  one. 

It  is  Christ's  will  that  is  thwarted,  it  is  Christ's 
power  that  is  circumscribed,  it  is  Christ's  promises 
that  are  discredited,  by  the  present  condition  of  His. 
Church.  Our  divisions  are  not  only  waste,  and  loss, 
and  weakness;  they  are  sin. 

Men  do  not  listen  to  the  Gospel  because  we  are 
withholding  from  them  the  chief  evidence  of  its 
power.  They  do  not  see  the  evidence  which  our 
Lord  Himself  said  would  convince  them,  and  on  which 
St.  Paul  so  insistently  dwells,  the  one  body  of  be- 

1  See  essay  on  "  Reunion  and  the  War  "  in  Toimrds  Reunion, 
P-  341- 


24  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

lievers,  linked  together  in  visible  and  holy  fellowship 
by  the  power  of  the  one  Spirit.  Evangelization,  Wit- 
ness, Redemption  from  sin,  Fellowship  with  God  in 
Christ,  these  are  the  things  for  which  the  Church 
exists  in  this  world,  and  these  are  all  being  hindered 
and  defeated  by  the  Church's  divisions.  Our  disunity 
is  sin,  and  it  is  sin  in  which  we  are  all  of  us  involved. 
We  are  all  guilty  of  the  sin  of  schism.  "  We  are  all 
more  or  less  schismatic.  If  not  wilfully,  then  by  mis- 
fortune, or  by  the  fault  of  others,  we  are  divided  from 
,  one  another  in  the  Body  of  Christ."  ^  The  time  has 
I  come  for  repentance  in  which  we  must  all  share.  This 
is  a  day  for  great  searchings  of  heart,  but  it  is  our 
own  hearts  that  we  must  search  and  not  our  neigh- 
bors'. We  need  not  inquire  too  diligently  into  the 
causes  of  the  divisions,  nor  seek  to  apportion  the 
blame  for  them.  The  question  before  us  is  not  how 
did  the  divisions  begin,  but  how  may  they  be  brought 
to  an  end.  In  most  quarrels  there  are  faults  on  both 
sides,  and  so  it  has  been  with  the  quarrels  among 
Christians.  The  question  now  is  not  as  to  the  origin 
of  schism,  but  as  to  the  longer  continuance  of  it. 
What  is  out  attitude,  and  the  attitude  of  our  respective 
Communions  towards  this  question? 

Is  our  personal  pride,  or  our  corporate  self-satis- 
faction, hindering  the  coming  of  unity,  and  postpon- 
ing the  day  when  the  power  of  Christ  can  be  revealed? 

1  Unity  and  Schism,  by  T.  A.  Lacey,  p.  150. 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY  25 

How  much  is  our  attitude  governed  by  prejudice,  by 
dislike  of  change,  by  unwillingness  to  look  on  the 
things  of  others,  by  the  temper  of  schism  in  our  own 
souls?  How  truly  do  we  long  for  the  unity  of 
Christ's  Church,  and  how  ready  are  we  to  make  sacri- 
fices of  our  preferences  and  prejudices  for  it?  These 
are  serious  questions  for  all  of  us  to  answer,  and 
they  are  questions  from  which  none  of  us  can  escape. 
The  day  has  passed  in  which  self-sufficient  aloof- 
ness, or  exclusiveness,  or  indifference  could  be  ex- 
cused. No  such  attitude  on  the  part  of  any  of  us  is 
now  justifiable.  Each  Christian  Communion  is  called 
upon  to  acknowledge  its  share  in  the  sin  of  making 
schism,  or  of  helping  to  perpetuate  it.  There  is  no 
Church  on  earth,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  which  is  not 
a  sharer  in  this  sin.  There  is  not  a  Church  which  has 
done  all  that  it  should  have  done  to  prevent  it,  or  to 
bring  it  to  an  end.  It  is  the  profound,  and  devout, 
Roman  Catholic,  Moehler,  who  declares  that  Catholics 
and  Protestants  "  must  stretch  a  friendly  hand  to  one 
another  and  e.xclaim,  in  the  consciousness  of  a  com- 
mon guilt,  we  all  have  erred  —  it  is  the  Church  only 
which  cannot  err;  we  all  have  sinned  —  the  Church 
only  is  spotless  on  earth";  and  he  adds,  "This  open 
confession  of  guilt  on  both  sides  will  be  followed  by 
the  festival  of  reconciliation."  ^  We  are  called  to  re- 
pent, and  repentance,  if  it  be  real,  includes  full  pur- 

1  La  Symbolique,  tome  ii,  pp.  33,  34. 


26 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


pose  of  amendment,  and  active  effort  to  repair  the 
wrong.  It  is  time  now  for  a  great  resolve,  by  Chris- 
tians of  all  names,  that  the  present  situation  shall  not 
continue,  that  through  the  promised  help  of  God  the 
Spirit,  present  with  us  now  as  in  the  first  days,  the 
way  shall  be  found  for  the  healing  of  our  divisions, 
and  for  the  manifestation  to  the  world  of  our  fellow- 
ship in  Jesus  Christ. 


II 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY 

There  are  few,  to-day,  who  will  defend  the  di- 
visions among  Christians.  Not  often  do  we  hear  the 
argument,  once  common  enough,  that  competition  is 
needful  for  religion,  and  that  sectarianism  is  ordained 
of  God.  It  is  now  generally  recognized  that  the  di- 
visions among  us  are  a  sin  in  themselves  and  a  source 
of  untold  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  there 
are  still  many  who  doubt  whether  the  ideal  of  unity 
can  be  realized.  The  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  real- 
ization are  indeed  great.  From  the  human  point  of 
view  we  may  admit  that  they  seem  insuperable.  But 
this  is  not  a  question  to  be  considered  merely  from 
the  human  point  of  view.  It  is  Jesus  Christ  Who 
calls  us  to  unity,  and  with  Him  the  impossible  is  pos- 
sible. The  difficulty  of  bringing  men  and  women  into 
fellowship  with  each  other  in  Christ  is  no  greater  now 
than  it  was  when  the  Gospel  was  first  preached.  That 
which  God  the  Spirit  was  able  to  accomplish  in  hu- 
man lives  in  the  first  age  He  is  equally  able  to  accom- 
plish in  this  later  one.  The  reunion  of  the  Church  in 
this  twentieth  century  would  be  not  one  whit  more 

27 


28 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


wonderful,  or  surprising,  than  was  the  appearance  of 
the  Church  in  the  first  century.  The  difficulties  to- 
day are,  in  fact,  far  less  than  those  which  St.  Paul 
faced  when  he  proclaimed  the  Gospel  of  visible  fel- 
lowship in  the  one  Christ.  "  What  a  strange  medley 
it  was,  that  Corinthian  Church  of  his!  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, master  and  slave,  cultured  and  unwashed,  were 
welded  into  the  closest  unity  by  their  baptism  into  this 
new  society.  History  could  produce  nothing  like  it. 
Slaves  had  suddenly  found  themselves  on  a  spiritual 
level  with  their  owners ;  emancipated  women  had  be- 
gun to  prophesy  in  the  common  assembly,  to  the  scan- 
dal of  old-fashioned  disciplinarians;  there  was  a  babel 
of  tongues  as  each  individual  claimed  priority  for  the 
exercise  of  his  spiritual  gift.  How  could  such  a  con- 
glomerate hold  together?  Only,  St.  Paul  said,  as  they 
recognized  an  organic  life  which  duly  related  part  with 
part,  only  as  they  were  dominated  by  the  truth  of  the 
one  Body.  .  .  .  The  body  is  Christ.  That  is  the  true 
unity.  It  unites  all  classes,  and  all  nationalities.  It 
finds  a  place  for  everyone,  and  keeps  everyone  in  his 
place.  It  destroys  not  individuals,  but  individualism. 
It  transmutes  self-assertion  into  self-devotion.  It 
counts  charity,  that  is  the  spirit  of  membership,  above 
all  other  spiritual  gifts.  It  creates  an  efficiency  and 
generates  a  force  which  transcends  all  efforts  of  all 
individuals,  and  which  in  the  end  will  be  irresistible. 
It  presents  a  living  Christ  to  the  world  —  a  living  and 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  29 

growing  Christ,  embodied  in  the  lives  of  His  mem- 
bers, gathering  up  in  one  all  the  individuals  of  hu- 
manity into  the  ultimate  unity  of  God's  One  Man. 
And  so  it  of¥ers  a  new  philosophy  of  human  life,  and 
with  it  a  new  human  hope,  as  certain  of  fulfilment  as 
is  the  purpose  of  God."  ^  As  we  consider  the  prac- 
tical possibility  of  unity,  and  the  steps  necessary  for 
its  achievement,  we  must  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that 
unity  is  far  from  meaning  uniformity.  A  mechanical 
uniformity  would  be  as  untrue  to  the  New  Testament 
ideal  of  the  Church  as  is  an  individualistic  disunity. 
The  one  would  be  as  far  from  the  true  unity  of  the 
Spirit  as  the  other  is.  The  one  would  be  as  spiritually 
sterile  as  the  other  is  spiritually  disintegrating.  The 
method  of  a  unity  maintained  by  authority  from  with- 
out has  already  been  tried  on  a  great  scale,  and  our 
present  disunity  is  the  reaction  from  it.  Uniformity 
in  the  details  of  faith  and  worship  there  neither  can 
be,  nor  should  be,  in  the  Church.  God  has  created 
men  with  widely  differing  temperaments,  gifts,  and 
spiritual  capacities.  Our  gifts  and  capacities  are  not 
to  be  repressed,  they  are  all  to  be  developed  and  ful- 
filled in  fellowship  with  Christ.  A  true  unity  must 
provide  for  great  diversity  of  spiritual  apprehension, 
experience  and  expression.  Unity  requires  uniform- 
ity only  in  the  things  which  are  essential  to  common 

^J.  Armitage  Robinson,  D.D.  The  Vision  of  Unity,  pp.  9,  10. 
Longmans,  Green  and.  Company. 


30  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

faith  and  life  in  Christ.  Unity  means  a  oneness  in 
the  essential  things  so  real  that  we  shall  dare  to  differ 
freely  in  lesser  matters,  as  men  and  women  do  who 
live  in  real  fellowship,  without  their  differences  caus- 
ing, or  even  suggesting,  separation  and  division.  We 
do  not  need  separated  and  rival  sects  to  give  room  for 
proper  freedom.  If  complete  agreement  in  matters  of 
faith  were  a  prerequisite  for  unity  we  might  indeed 
despair,  but  unity  imposes  no  such  condition.  While 
it  is  obvious  that  those  who  are  to  live  and  work  to- 
gether in  Christ  must  have  a  common  faith  in  Him, 
it  is  certain  that  unity  cannot  be  based  only  on  agree- 
ment upon  questions  of  doctrjne.  We  need  to  recog- 
nize more  clearly  that  it  is  not  so  much  agreement 
which  produces  unity  as  it  is  unity  and  fellowship  which 
produce  agreement.  It  is  the  Spirit  which  maketh  men 
to  be  of  one  mind  in  an  house.  Our  Lord  Himself 
acted  upon  this  principle.  He  based  the  unity  of  His 
followers  on  a  foundation  far  deeper  than  mere  intel- 
lectual agreement.  He  did  not  formulate  a  creed.  He 
founded  a  Household,  a  Church,  in  which  all  were  to 
become  sharers  of  His  life.  It  was  the  living  of  their 
common  life  in  Him  which  was  to  keep  them  in  the 
unity  of  the  common  faith.  It  was  in  the  fellowship 
of  the  one  household  that  they  were  to  grow  together 
in  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Right  apprehension  of 
truth  is  important,  and  necessary.  But  unity  lies 
more  fundamentally  in  our  sharing  the  life  that  is  in 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  3 1 

Christ  than  in  our  apprehension,  or  explanation,  of  it. 
And  this  fundamental  unity  of  hfe  given,  and  shared, 
is  already  ours.  What  is  needed  is  that  this  shall  be 
realized  and  made  manifest. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome 
are  beyond  estimate,  the  present  outlook  for  unity  is 
full  of  encouragement.  Within  the  past  few  decades 
an  astonishing  change  has  taken  place.  A  short  time 
ago  few  Christians  were  seriously  concerned  about 
unity.  Now  the  desire  for  it  is  manifested  in  all  parts 
of  the  Church,  and  in  every  quarter  of  the  world.  A 
new  spirit  of  fellowship  is  showing  itself.  Prejudices 
are  breaking  down.  Misconceptions  are  being  re- 
moved. Mutual  respect  is  taking  the  place  of  suspicion 
and  misunderstanding.  Scholarship  is  at  work  and 
under  its  impartial  searchlight  some  of  the  old  difficul- 
ties wear  a  changed  aspect.  There  is  a  new  freedom, 
a  new  interchange  of  thought,  a  new  readiness  to  com- 
pare ideas,  and  to  consider  opposing  views,  among 
scholars  and  leaders,  in  all  Communions.  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  Anglicans  and  Noncon- 
formists are  found  sympathetically  and  open-mindedly 
studying  each  other's  religious  life  and  teaching.  The 
old,  bitter  style  of  controversy  has  almost  disappeared. 
Of  this  changed  situation,  as  it  appears  in  England, 
Canon  Goudge  says,  "  If  any  member  of  our  own 
body  preached  about  Nonconformists  in  the  style  of 
Dr.  South,  or  wrote  about  them  in  the  style  of  the 


32  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

poet  Crabbe,  we  should  soon  make  him  understand 
how  deeply  we  were  shocked  by  his  words.  It  is  rare 
indeed  to  hear  from  one  of  our  own  pulpits  an  unkind 
word  about  those  separated  from  us,  and  we  may 
hope  that  the  same  is  widely  true  of  Nonconformist 
pulpits.  Moreover,  the  old  aloofness  is  giving  way. 
We  ourselves  no  longer  affect  to  regard  Nonconform- 
ity as  negligible,  either  at  home  or  abroad ;  the  work 
done  by  Nonconformists  for  our  common  Master  is 
far  too  great  and  too  successful  for  that.  There  is 
much  personal  friendliness  especially  among  the  min- 
isters of  the  different  Communions,  much  mutual  ap- 
preciation, a  far  greater  humility  and  desire  to  learn 
one  from  another."  ^ 

Christians  to-day  are  realizing  that  the  things  which 
unite  them  are  greater  than  the  things  which  separate 
them.  They  are  asking  why  the  separations  should 
continue.  This  spirit  is  especially  strong  among  the 
younger  people  who  will  soon  be  the  leaders  in  the 
various  Communions.  From  the  Student  Christian 
Movement  of  England  comes  this  declaration:  "We 
feel  that  the  divisions  of  the  church  in  our  country 
are  no  longer  tolerable,  because  they  obscure  that 
unity  in  Christ  which  we  know  to  be  more  real  than 
our  differences.  We  ask  for  instant  and  courageous 
action.  W^e  want  to  serve  a  church  which  stands  as 
one  in  fearless  love  of  truth."    And  this  utterance  is 

1  The  Catholic  Party  and  the  Nonconformists,  p.  4. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  33 

not  exceptional.  It  is  typical  of  the  new  spirit  and 
attitude.  This  spirit  was  already  at  work  before  the 
war.  But  the  experiences  of  the  war  have  greatly 
accentuated  and  strengthened  it.  The  war  brought 
about  on  an  unprecedented  scale,  contact  between 
Chaplains  of  all  kinds  and  men  of  all  faiths.  The 
comradeship  in  a  great  cause,  the  fellowship  in  a  world 
emergency,  revealed  them  to  each  other  as  brothers  in 
spirit,  whatever  their  religious  names.  They  saw  that 
true  Christian  character,  was  the  product  not  of  any 
one  of  the  different  Religious  Communions,  but  of  all 
of  them.  And  if  they  were  disposed  to  regard  this  as 
the  acid  test,  there  is  the  highest  of  all  authority  for 
such  a  judgment.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  An  Army  Chaplain  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land writes,  "  Remove  a  man  from  the  aura  of  fem- 
ininity which  surrounded  his  ministry ;  compel  him  to 
think  in  a  secular  medium ;  pitch  him  into  a  world 
where  rations  have  an  inordinate  value ;  compel  him  to 
become  independent  of  externals  in  the  spiritual  life; 
surround  him  with  pals  who  want  no  phrases  but  the 
naked  truth ;  give  him  God  the  Spirit  for  his  Teacher, 
and  the  Gospel  for  his  tool ;  and  it  is  not  surprising 
if  in  these  surroundings  his  style  changes,  his  needs 
simplify,  he  develops  new  affinities,  and  jettisons  a 
certain  amount  of  lumber  out  of  his  theological  valise." 
..."  It  is  one  thing  to  accept  the  presence  of  the 
Roman  Chapel  in  your  parish  as  part  of  your  normal 


34  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

experience ;  and  another  to  see  the  soldiers  of  an  Irish 
regiment  laboriously  erecting  two  wooden  altars  in  the 
camp,  at  a  safe  distance  from  one  another,  lest  the 
Church  of  Rome  should  suffer  contagion  from  the 
Church  of  England.  It  is  one  thing  to  acquiesce  in 
the  lack  of  sacramental  fellowship  with  the  Noncon- 
formist minister  over  the  way,  between  whom  and 
you  there  is  a  series  of  border  raids  and  minor  sheep- 
stealing  operations ;  and  another  thing  when  you  know 
him  as  a  friend  —  when  you  have  shared  your  experi- 
ence of  Christ  with  him,  and  worked  by  his  side  in 
the  presence  of  wounds  and  death."  ^ 

Some  of  the  approaches  to  unity  at  "  the  Front  " 
may  have  been  such  as  trained  theologians  could  not 
approve.  But  we  may  remember  that  the  forward 
rushes  of  the  "  inexperienced "  American  troops, 
though  disapproved,  no  doubt  rightly,  by  the  military 
experts,  helped  greatly  to  shorten  the  war. 

Out  of  all  this  fellowship  in  a  common  crisis  has 
come  an  increased  sense,  if  not  of  the  sinfulness,  at 
any  rate  of  the  needlessness  and  futility  of  the  divi- 
sions among  Christians.  The  soldier  at  least  sees  the 
folly  of  trying  to  fight  the  Devil  with  divided  forces. 
Those  who  have  passed  through  these  experiences  will 
be  less  than  ever  content  with  a  divided  Christianity. 
Great  as  was  the  crime  of  its  originators,  the  war 

1  The  Rev.  T.  Guy  Rogers,  Essay  on  "  Reunion  and  the  War  " 
in  Toivards  Reunion,  Macmillan  and  Co. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  35 

has  made  powerfully  for  the  unity  of  the  world.  It 
has  also  worked  mightily  towards  the  unity  of  the 
Church. 

Looking  at  the  Christian  world  as  a  whole,  we  see 
most  important  developments  in  process,  and  con- 
spicious  among  them  is  the  changed  situation  of  the 
ancient  Churches  of  the  East.  These  great  Churches, 
which  in  our  western  provincialism  we  have  too  little 
considered,  are  now  coming  into  a  new  relation  of 
fellowship  with  the  world,  and  with  the  Church  at 
large.  For  centuries  content  to  live  apart,  with  little 
desire  for  contact  with  the  rest  of  Christendom,  they 
are  now  stirred  with  a  new  spirit  and  are  manifesting 
a  strong  desire  for  unity.  Speaking  to  us  from  the 
home  and  cradle  of  our  religion,  out  of  a  Christian 
life  which  antedates  that  of  any  of  the  Churches  of 
the  West,  these  Eastern  Christians  have  a  great  part 
to  play  in  the  life  of  the  United  Church,  and  in  the 
work  of  bringing  together  its  sundered  portions. 
Their  unquestioned  antiquity,  their  steadfastness  in 
the  Faith,  which  none  dispute,  their  experiences  of  suf- 
fering and  martyrdom,  their  deep  insight  into  spiritual 
truth,  all  give  unique  value  to  the  testimony  which  they 
bring  to  us.  They  have  a  special  witness  to  bear  as 
to  the  essentials  of  an  evangelical,  historic,  catholic, 
Christianity.  Even  out  of  the  present  chaos  in  Rus- 
sia the  message  comes  that  the  Church  of  that  land  is 
finding  new  life  in  the  day  of  her  visitation.  Bishop 


36  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

Bury,  who  has  just  been  among  us,  and  whose  work 
as  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  Churches  in  Central  and 
Northern  Europe  has  given  him  unusual  opportuni- 
ties for  knowledge  of  the  situation,  predicts  that  the 
Russian  Church  will  come  out  of  her  fierce  ordeal 
purified,  spiritually  strengthened,  and  with  new  names 
added  to  the  roll  of  her  martyrs  and  confessors.  One 
of  the  most  trusted  religious  leaders  of  our  own  land, 
and  of  Protestant  Christianity  the  world  over,  a  lay- 
man, whose  position  of  leadership  has  kept  him  in 
close  relation  with  Russian  affairs,  makes  the  state- 
ment that  "  the  Russian  Orthodox  Church  is  the  one 
institution  in  Russia  out  of  which  the  cement  has  not 
fallen."  "  It  should,''  he  says,  "  be  the  work  of  Prot- 
estants not  to  plant  their  own  communions  there,  but 
in  any  way  possible  to  aid  the  Russian  Church  to  do 
its  work.  If  will  be  the  great  power  in  the  recovery 
and  restoration  of  the  Russian  people."  The  emer- 
gence of  the  Eastern  portion  of  Christendom  into  the 
afifairs  of  the  Christian  world  is  already  showing  its 
effects  in  practical  ways.  It  is  compelling  people  to 
see  the  problem  of  unity  in  its  true  perspective.  It  is 
obliging  all  to  recognize  that  Christians  cannot  be 
classified  simply  as  Roman  Catholics  on  the  one  hand 
or  Protestants  on  the  other.  It  is  making  plain  to 
the  wayfaring  man  the  fact  that  the  title  Catholic 
cannot,  with  fidelity  to  history,  or  to  fact,  be  claimed 
as  the  exclusive  property  of  those  in  communion  with 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  3/ 

the  see  of  Rome.  In  this  great  Communion  of  the 
East,  with  its  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  Christians, 
we  see  a  Christianity  which  has  lived  largely  apart  from 
our  controversies,  which  is  deeply  Evangelical,  but  not 
Protestant,  which  is  undeniably  Catholic,  but  in  no 
sense  Roman,  which  is  as  clear  and  emphatic  in  its 
rejection  of  the  claims  of  the  Papacy  as  it  is  in  its 
witness  to  the  Catholic  Faith.  The  relations  between 
the  Eastern  and  Anglican  Churches  have  long  been 
most  friendly  in  character.  There  is  indeed  nothing 
which  need  hold  them  apart.  Their  relations  have 
been  still  further  strengthened  by  recent  events,  and 
the  time  seems  now  to  have  come  for  full  inter-com- 
munion and  fellowship  between  these  Communions. 

The  deputation  representing  the  World  Conference 
Commission  of  the  Episcopal  Church  which  visited  the 
Churches  of  the  East  in  19 19  declares,  in  its  report, 
that  these  Churches  now  seem  ready  for  definite  steps 
towards  unity.  This  report  says,  "  A  desire  for  con- 
tact with  Western  Christianity  is  beginning  to  find 
frequent  expression  throughout  the  East.  Their  theo- 
logical students  are  being  encouraged  to  go  to  England 
and  America  for  part  of  their  education.  An  inter- 
change of  lectureships  on  Church  history  and  doctrine 
is  being  seriously  considered  in  many  places.  Many 
progressive  reforms  are  being  inaugurated  wherein 
contact  with  the  more  active  form  of  western  Church 
life  will  exercise  a  stimulating  influence.    A  fresh 


38  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

missionary  determination  is  overtaking  the  Eastern 
Churches  as  they  look  forward  to  such  an  era  of  polit- 
ical peace  and  religious  freedom  as  they  have  not  en- 
joyed for  centuries.  It  is  along  such  lines  as  these 
that  the  pragmatic  West  can  help  the  more  conserva- 
tive East.  In  many  particulars  it  can  be  truly  said 
that  the  West  lacks  what  the  East  has,  and  the  East 
lacks  what  the  West  has.  Only  in  union  can  the  ful- 
ness of  truth  and  beauty  be  found." 

At  present  the  chief  barrier  to  progress  in  the  direc- 
tion of  world  wide  unity  is  the  position  taken  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  official  position  of 
this  Communion  in  regard  to  unity  seems  still  to  be 
that  which,  years  ago,  in  connection  with  a  famous 
discussion,  a  representative  organ  declared  it  to 
be  "  The  Church  apostolic,  undivided,  and  universal 
stands  alone  among  all  other  religious  communities, 
with  everything  to  bestow,  nothing  to  receive ;  her  call 
whether  to  individuals  or  communities,  is  a  summons 
not  to  treat,  but  to  surrender.  She  sits  as  judge  in 
her  own  controversy,  the  only  plea  she  admits  is  a 
confiteor,  the  only  prayer  she  listens  to  a  miserere." 

We  may  have  confidence,  however,  that  this  will 
not  always  be  the  attitude  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  A  far  different  spirit  is  found  in  the  utter- 
ances of  many  of  her  wise  pontiffs,  in  the  lives  of  her 
great  saints,  and  in  the  negotiations  in  which  she  has  at 
times  engaged  with  those  not  of  her  own  fold.  Her 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  39 

system  is  in  fact  far  more  flexible  than  it  appears  to 
be,  and  she  has  shown  remarkable  power  of  adapta- 
tion to  changed  conditions.  The  growth  of  a  world 
wide  spirit  of  fellowship,  and  Christian  democracy, 
will  affect  Rome  as  it  is  affecting  all  of  us.  Some  new 
Hildebrand  will  come  to  the  Papacy  who  will  see  the 
vision  of  unity  as  St.  Paul  did,  and  will  find  the  true 
spiritual  power  of  his  high  office  by  voluntarily  laying 
aside  whatever  hinders  the  Roman  Communion  from 
Catholic  fellowship  with  the  Church  of  Christ  as  a 
whole.  As  to  the  possibility  of  approach  between  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  those  Communions  which 
seem  furthest  removed  from  her,  no  less  interesting  a 
witness  than  Professor  Harnack  says,  "  If  one  objects 
to  it  that  at  this  time  no  one  can  imagine  how  and 
under  what  forms  Catholicism  and  Protestantism  can 
ever  draw  near  one  another,  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  three  hundred  years  ago  no  one  could  have  con- 
ceived beforehand  how  Lutheranism  and  Calvinism 
could  have  been  fused  together.  And  yet  we  have  to- 
day, the  Evangelical  Union,  and  thousands  know 
themselves  as  Evangelical  Christians  without  any  sus- 
picion of  that  opposition  which  once  bade  Lutherans 
and  Calvinists  contend  more  bitterly  than  Lutherans 
and  Catholics."  ^  It  should  go  without  saying,  in  this 
day,  that  no  countenance  should  be  given  to  the  old 

1  See  quotation  in  Passing  Protestantism  by  Newman  Smyth, 
P-  193- 


40 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


bitterness  against  Rome,  and  that  no  right-minded 
Christian  can  desire  anything  but  what  is  best  for  this 
great  Communion,  and  for  her  work  among  men. 
We  must  all  recognize  the  spiritual  excellences  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church;  her  fearless  witness  to 
the  supernatural  and  sacramental  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion;  her  power  to  produce  saints  and  spir- 
itual heroes ;  her  appeal  to  the  poetic,  and  the  aesthetic, 
in  the  human  soul ;  the  devotion  with  which  she  reaches 
and  ministers  to  all  classes  of  men,  the  unlettered  as 
well  as  the  learned.  We  see,  and  we  rejoice  to  see, 
the  zeal  and  loyalty  which  she  arouses  in  her  people; 
their  living  faith  and  readiness  to  make  sacrifices  for 
their  religion ;  their  recognition  of  the  binding  duty 
of  worship;  the  sacredness  in  which  they  hold  the 
marriage  bond.  All  this,  and  more,  we  see  and  we 
thank  God  for  it.  These  spiritual  fruits  are  a 
strength  to  the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  and,  in  spite 
of  our  divisions,  they  are  the  common  possession  of 
all  of  us,  for  "  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the 
members  sufifer  with  it,  or  one  member  be  honored, 
all  the  members  rejoice  with  it."  ^ 

But  we  shall  not  make  progress  towards  unity  by 
ignoring,  or  glossing  over,  real  difficulties.  As  Chris- 
tians, we  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  each  other,  and  to 
Christ  Our  Lord,  to  bear  clear  witness  to  the  truth  as 
we  have  learned  it  in  Him,  and  unity  reached  by  any 

1 1  Corinthians  xii,  26. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  4I 

Other  method  than  this  could  result  only  in  disappoint- 
ment. 

There  are  elements  in  the  Roman  Catholic  system 
to  which  the  rest  of  Christendom  can  never  assent. 
The  present  claims  of  the  Papacy  cannot  be  reconciled 
either  with  the  history,  or  with  the  spirit,  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion.  Unity  will  not  come  by  way  of  sub- 
mission, or  absorption  of  others  into  any  one  of  the 
existing  Communions.  It  will  come  by  concord,  not 
by  conquest;  by  mutual  and  equal  fellowship,  not  by 
"  unconditional  surrender."  Properly  constituted  au- 
thority there  must  of  course  be  in  the  Church,  but  the 
day  of  autocracy  has  gone,  whether  in  temporal  or 
spiritual  affairs,  and  its  spirit  is  foreign  to  Christ's 
Religion.  It  is,  in  fact,  Christianity  itself  which  by 
its  Gospel  of  liberty  and  human  brotherhood  has  de- 
stroyed this  principle  of  government.  The  Papacy, 
and  also  the  monarchical  idea  of  the  Episcopate  in  so 
far  as  this  has  obtained  in  the  Anglican  Communion, 
or  elsewhere,  must  be  modified  and  brought  into  full 
accord  with  that  spirit  of  freedom  and  brotherhood 
which  is  alone  reconcilable  with  the  Gospel,  and  which 
the  Gospel  has  itself  produced. 

Not  only  will  the  way  to  unity  be  opened,  but  all 
the  excellences  which  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
possesses  will  be  strengthened,  her  spiritual  power  will 
be  incalculably  increased,  when  she  relieves  herself 
of  her  present  encumbrances.    We  must  believe  that, 


42 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


in  time,  this  change  will  take  place.  Already  the  de- 
mand is  heard  within  the  Roman  Church  for  "  a  consti- 
tutionalized  Papacy."  For  the  present  it  is  repressed, 
but  it  will  be  heard  again,  and  in  time  it  will  pre- 
vail. The  laity  of  this  Communion  will  exercise  larger 
power,  and  the  influence  within  it  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  of  the  United  States  seems  certain  to  in- 
crease. No  one  can  say  what  form  the  constitution 
of  the  United  Church  will  take.  Who  shall  say  that 
there  may  not  prove  to  be  in  it  a  place  for  "  a  con- 
stitutionalized  Papacy  "  ?  This  is  by  no  means  be- 
yond the  limits  of  possibility,  and  it  is  a  thought  which 
is  already  finding  expression.  With  a  largeness  of 
view  which  all  of  us  may  well  emulate  the  Free  Church 
authors  of  Pathways  to  Christian  Unity  say  "  some- 
how the  Church  has  to  solve  the  question  which  is 
also  plaguing  the  political  world :  how  to  combine  cen- 
tral authority  with  local  freedom  and  representation 
with  true  leadership.  That  leads  us  to  make  the  dar- 
ing suggestion  that  the  whole  Church  needs  to  embrace 
in  one  comprehensive  system  the  different  types  of 
Church  Government  which  have  been  historically  de- 
veloped: Papacy,  Episcopacy,  Presbyterianism  and 
Congregationalism.  This  might  be  found  to  be  other 
than  a  wild  dream  if  it  was  recognized  that  here  was 
really  a  place  for  honorable  compromise,  which  could 
be  secured  by  the  delimitation  of  authority,  by  agree- 
ment as  to  what  things  ought  to  be  bound  and  what 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  43 

ought  to  be  left  free,  and  especially  by  discovering  the 
real  nature  of  Christian  authority  to  consist  in  the 
persuasion  of  love,  and  to  rest  upon  the  enthusiasm 
of  loyalty,  instead  of  borrowing  the  notions  of 
coercion  and  the  oath  of  absolute  obedience  upon 
which  the  secular  State  and  military  discipline  rely. 
Indeed  this  may  prove  to  be  something  much  better 
than  compromise  —  a  real  experiment  in  combining 
principles  hitherto  supposed  to  be  contradictory. 
Episcopacy,  for  instance,  which  the  Free  Churches 
are  sometimes  asked  to  swallow  as  a  comparatively 
harmless  concession  to  Catholic  prejudice,  or  a  pru- 
dent insurance  against  possible,  but  unproved,  defects 
in  their  ministry,  might  come  to  be  accepted  with 
genuine  enthusiasm  if  it  were  rightly  presented  as 
signifying  the  mystical  Communion  with  the  Church 
of  the  past,  which  is  the  Church  now  triumphant  in 
heaven ;  as  conveying  recognition  by  the  whole  Church 
now  militant  on  earth;  as  a  valuable  means  of  main- 
taining personal  fellowship  between  the  local  and  the 
central  officers  of  the  Church.  This,  however,  would 
require  an  Episcopate  not  only  in  the  historic  succes- 
sion and  in  imbroken  Communion,  but  also  democrat- 
ically elected  and  truly  representative."  ^ 

Among  the  Protestant  Communions  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  the  desire  for  unity  is  expressing  itself  with 
increasing  force.    The  differences  between  the  Prot- 


iPp.  193,  194. 


44 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


estant  Churches  have,  in  fact,  in  large  measure  ceased 
to  exist.  The  burning  questions  upon  which  the  sep- 
arations took  place  have  many  of  them  burned  them- 
selves out.  The  differences  which  remain  are  most  of 
them  as  to  matters  acknowledged  not  to  be  vital  to  the 
Christian  Faith.  The  divisions  have  outlived  their 
causes,  and  it  is  felt  widely  that  there  is  not  sufficient 
reason  for  their  continuance.  The  impulse  towards 
closer  fellowship  among  the  Protestant  Communions 
has  been  much  strengthened  by  great  interdenomina- 
tional agencies  and  movements  such  as  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and  the  Student  Christian 
Movement. 

In  this  country  the  "  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America,"  which  includes  rep- 
resentatives of  thirty  different  denominations,  is  doing 
much  to  draw  these  Communions  nearer  to  each  other, 
to  unite  them  in  combined  action  and  expression  so  far 
as  this  is  possible,  and  to  promote  among  them  the 
■Spirit  of  Christian  fellowship.  While  "  Federation  " 
does  not  in  itself  accomplish  unity,  and  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  substitute  for  it,  the  contact  and  coopera- 
tion which  it  brings  about  tend  strongly  in  this  direc- 
tion. 

The  movement  towards  unity  in  the  Protestant 
world  is,  however,  going  far  beyond  desires  or  ten- 
dencies.   In  a  number  of  cases  definite  steps  have  been 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  45 

taken,  bodies  closely  akin  to  each  other  have  become 
united,  and  others  are  preparing  for  like  action. 

The  three  most  important  Lutheran  Churches  in  the 
United  States,  heretofore  sharply  divided,  have  come 
together  as  the  United  Lutheran  Church  of  America. 

Hopeful  negotiations  are  in  progress  between  the 
Church  of  Scotland  and  the  United  Free  Church  in 
that  country.  The  Congregational,  Methodist,  and 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  Canada  are  considering  the 
possibility  of  uniting  and  the  same  Churches  in  Aus- 
tralia are  making  similar  efforts.  In  England  a 
movement  is  under  way  to  bring  togetTier  the  Free 
Churches  under  the  title  of  "  The  United  Free  Church 
of  England." 

In  May,  191 8,  most  important  action  was  taken  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  "  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America."  An  invitation  was 
extended  to  the  Evangelical  Communions  of  this  coun- 
try to  participate  in  a  meeting  "  for  the  purpose  of 
formulating  a  plan  of  organic  union,"  and,  in  Decem- 
ber of  that  year,  a  preliminary  "  Interchurch  Confer- 
ence on  Organic  Union  "  was  held.  At  this  meeting 
an  Ad  Interim  Committee  was  appointed  with  instruc- 
tions to  invite  the  Evangelical  Communions  of  the 
United  States  to  send  representatives  to  an  "  Inter- 
denominational Council  on  Organic  Union."  In 
February,  1920,  a  meeting  of  the  proposed  Council 


46  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

assembled,  with  representatives  of  eighteen  Com- 
munions attending.  A  plan  of  organic  union  was 
adopted  which  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  governing 
bodies  of  the  several  Communions,  and  when  six  of 
them  have  signified  their  assent  the  Council  will  con- 
vene and  the  plan  will  go  into  effect.  The  plan 
adopted  provides  that  each  Communion  shall  have 
"  autonomy  in  purely  denominational  affairs "  re- 
serving the  right  to  retain  its  credal  statements,  its 
form  of  government  in  the  conduct  of  its  own  work, 
and  its  particular  mode  of  worship,  but  the  Com- 
munions unite  in  a  common  declaration  of  faith,  and 
the  Council  is  to  "  harmonize  and  unify  the  work  of 
the  United  Churches  "  and  to  bring  about,  so  far  as 
may  be  possible,  consolidation  of  their  religious  work 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  This  is  the  most  important 
and  promising  action  yet  taken  toward  uniting  the 
Protestant  Communions.  The  plan  contains  the  sig- 
nificant statement  that  "  in  taking  this  step,  we  look 
forward  with  confident  hope  to  that  complete  unity 
toward  which  we  believe  the  Spirit  of  God  is  lead- 
ing us."  In  connection  with  this  movement  full 
consolidation  has  been  effected  between  the  Welsh 
Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  and  plans  are  now 
in  hand  which  there  is  good  reason  to  hope  will 
bring  into  union  shortly  the  United  Presbyteries,  the 
Reformed  Church,  the  Presbyterian  Church  South  and 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  47 

the  Presbyterian  Church  North.  The  fear  is  some- 
times expressed  that  such  unions  of  kindred  Churches 
may  tend  to  strengthen  them  in  their  present  position 
and  so  prove  a  hindrance  instead  of  an  advance  to- 
wards the  full  realization  of  unity.  There  seems, 
however,  to  be  little  ground  for  this  fear.  The  fact 
seems  to  be  that  fellowship  begets  the  desire  for  still 
further  fellowship,  and  that  every  local  movement, 
every  effort  to  bring  together  related  groups  of 
Churches,  gives  added  momentum  to  the  movement  for 
unity  and  hastens  the  day  when  our  Lord's  prayer 
shall  find  its  full  answer.  More  and  more  as  these 
consolidations  take  place  the  spirit  of  unity  will  grow, 
the  conviction  will  increase  that  unity  is  possible,  it 
will  be  felt  that  we  cannot  stop  short  on  the  road, 
that  the  way  must  be  found  to  bring  together  all  who 
are  in  Christ  in  the  visible  fellowship  of  his  Church. 

In  China  the  "  Nanking  Church  Council  "  has  been 
formed  including  in  its  membership  six  Communions, 
with  a  central  executive  committee,  in  order  to  avoid 
overlapping  and  rivalry.  From  India  the  report 
comes  that  important  proposals  have  been  formulated 
for  corporate  reunion  between  the  Anglican  Church 
in  India,  the  Mar  Thoma  Syrian  Christians,  and  the 
South  India  United  Church,  which  includes  Presby- 
terians and  Congregationalists  of  both  English  and 
American  missions.  This  proposal  is  of  the  deepest 
interest,  undertaking  as  it  does  to  bring  into  fellow- 


48  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

ship  representatives  of  the  Anglican  Church,  the  Free 
Protestant  Churches  and  the  Eastern  Church.  It  is 
the  unbroken  tradition  of  the  Mar  Thoma  Syrian 
Church  that  it  was  founded  by  the  Apostle  Saint 
Thomas  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  52.  This  proposal 
is  based  on  the  Lambeth  Quadrilateral,  including  ac- 
ceptance of  "  the  historic  Episcopate,  locally  adapted." 

While  no  church  has  done  all  that  it  should  have 
done  for  the  sake  of  unity  there  has  been  in  the 
Anglican  Communion  a  deep  desire  and  longing  for  it 
ever  since  the  divisions  took  place.  Many  are  the 
scholars  and  saintly  leaders  of  her  fold  who  have  given 
their  prayers  and  labors  in  its  behalf.  Names  come  to 
mind  at  once  like  those  of  Andrewes,  Hooker,  Taylor, 
John  Hales,  Neale,  Muhlenberg,  Pusey,  and,  in  more 
recent  time,  John  Wordsworth,  William  P.  DuBose, 
W.  J.  Birkbeck  and  W.  R.  Huntington.  Although 
she  has  fallen  short,  like  others,  and  at  times 
her  course  has  not  been  consistent  with  this,  it  may 
be  said  with  justice  of  the  Anglican  Church  that  the 
longing  for  unity  is  one  of  the  deepest  notes  of  her 
life.  Misunderstood  often,  and,  not  unnaturally, 
from  opposite  sides,  she  has  held  steadfastly  the  dif- 
ficult middle  position  in  which  she  was  put,  and  has 
persisted  in  the  hope  that  she  might  be  allowed  to 
serve  in  the  work  of  reconciliation.  Of  earlier  efforts 
and  movements  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak.  We 
are  considering  here  the  present  outlook  for  unity  and, 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  49 

in  this  connection,  the  declaration  by  the  Anglican 
Church  known  as  the  Lambeth  Quadrilateral  holds 
epoch-making  place. 

This  pronouncement,  which  originated  in  the  Amer- 
ican Episcopal  Church,  was  issued  first  by  the  House 
of  Bishops  at  the  General  Convention,  in  Chicago,  in 
1886,  and  was  adopted,  with  slight  modifications,  by 
the  Lambeth  Conference  in  1888.  In  1899  Dr.  Wil- 
liam R.  Huntington,  from  whom  came  the  first  sug- 
gestion of  the  Quadrilateral,  wrote  of  it,  "  Whether 
that  eirenicon  be  indeed  the  vain  shadow  which  some 
have  been  hasty  to  pronounce  it,  men  can  better  judge 
after  its  terms  shall  have  been  honestly  lived  up  to  in 
the  house  of  its  friends.  Fifty  years  will  be  a  short 
time  for  the  test."  Only  about  twenty  years  have 
passed  since  those  words  were  written  but  the  value 
of  this  Declaration  has  been  abundantly  proved.  Its 
results  are  to-day  plainly  evident.  At  this  time  move- 
ments towards  unity  based  on  the  Lambeth  Quadri- 
lateral are  under  consideration  in  India,  in  Africa,  in 
Australia,  in  England  and  in  the  United  States. 

At  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  held  in  Cincinnati,  in  1910,  a  movement 
was  inaugurated  to  bring  about  a  World  Conference 
on  Faith  and  Order  to  be  participated  in  by  all  Chris- 
tian Communions,  throughout  the  world  both  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant  which  confess  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  God  and  Saviour.    In  spite  of  the  great  diffi- 


50  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

culties  arising  from  the  war  the  work  of  preparation 
for  this  gathering  has  steadily  proceeded.  Almost  all 
the  great  Communions  of  the  world,  including  the 
Eastern  and  Anglican  Churches  have  identified  them- 
selves with  the  movement  and  the  assembling  of  the 
Conference  at  no  distant  day,  seems  now  to  be  an 
assured  fact.  An  important  preliminary  Conference 
for  the  furtherance  of  this  undertaking  is  shortly  to 
held  at  Geneva.  In  England  the  preparatory  work 
for  the  World  Conference  has  brought  forth  two  re- 
markable Interim  Reports  signed  jointly  by  leading 
representatives  of  the  Free  Churches  and  of  the  Church 
of  England.  The  second  of  these  reports,  which 
marks  notable  advance  in  the  movement  towards 
unity,  contains  the  following  statement : 

"  It  is  the  purpose  of  our  Lord  that  believers  in 
Him  should  be  one  visible  society,  and  this  unity  is 
essential  to  the  purpose  of  Christ  for  His  Church 
and  for  its  effective  witness  and  work  in  the  world. 
The  conflict  among  Christian  nations  has  brought 
home  to  us  with  a  greater  poignancy  the  disastrous 
results  of  the  divisions  which  prevail  among  Chris- 
tians, inasmuch  as  they  have  hindered  that  growth  of 
mutual  understanding  which  it  should  be  the  function 
of  the  Church  to  foster,  and  because  a  Church  which 
is  itself  divided  cannot  speak  effectively  to  a  divided 
world." 

"  The  visible  unity  of  believers  which  answers  to 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  5 1 

our  Lord's  purpose  must  have  its  source  and  sanc- 
tion, not  in  any  human  arrangements,  but  in  the  will 
of  the  One  Father,  manifested  in  the  Son,  and  ef- 
fected through  the  operation  of  the  Spirit;  and  it  must 
express  and  maintain  the  fellowship  of  His  people 
with  one  another  in  Him.  Thus  the  visible  unity  of 
the  Body  of  Christ  is  not  adequately  expressed  in  the 
cooperation  of  the  Christian  Churches  for  moral  in- 
fluence and  social  service,  though  such  cooperation 
might  with  great  advantage  be  carried  much  further 
than  it  is  at  present;  it  could  only  be  fully  realized 
through  community  of  worship,  faith,  and  order,  in- 
cluding common  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 
This  would  be  quite  compatible  with  a  rich  diversity 
in  life  and  worship." 

A  few  years  ago  no  such  words  as  these  could  have 
been  jointly  written,  and  put  forth,  by  leading  theolo- 
gians of  the  Church  of  England  and  of  the  Non- 
Conformist  Churches. 

Whatever  the  visible  results  of  the  proposed  World 
Conference  may  be,  or  even  if  through  some  now  un- 
foreseen difficulties  it  should  fail  to  meet,  the  effort 
to  bring  it  about  has  been  of  incalculable  value.  The 
preparation  for  it  has  been  perhaps  as  important  as 
the  Conference  itself.  This  work  carried  on  during 
a  period  of  ten  years  has  been  a  world  wide  campaign 
in  the  cause  of  Unity.  It  has  kept  the  thought  of 
unity  before  the  minds  of  Christians  everywhere. 


'52  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

It  has  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  United  Church 
must  include  all  the  vital  truth  for  which  both  Prot- 
estantism and  Catholicism  stand.  It  has  held  in  view 
the  fact  that  the  only  basis  possible  for  unity  among 
Christians  is  belief  in  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God 
and  Saviour. 

It  has  helped  to  make  clear  to  all  the  fact  that 
unity  is  to  be  reached,  not  by  cutting  away,  but  by 
building  up,  not  by  disregard  of  truth,  but  by  fuller 
apprehension  of  it.  It  has  stood  for  the  fact  that 
every  group  of  Christians  holds  truth  which  it  has 
received  from  God,  and  has  its  special  contribution 
to  make,  which  is  needed  in  the  full  life  of  the  visible 
Church.  It  has  promoted  in  all  directions  that  hu- 
man fellowship  and  personal  contact  which  is  so  im- 
portant a  factor  in  reaching  mutual  understanding. 
It  has  helped  to  create  the  atmosphere  in  which  alone 
unity  can  come  to  pass.  Above  all  else  it  has  in- 
creased the  number  of  Christians,  of  all  names,  who 
are  praying  in  union  with  Our  Lord's  own  prayer 
"  that  they  all  may  be  one."  In  his  Bedell  Lectures 
on  "  A  National  Church,"  in  1898,  Dr.  Huntington 
wrote,  "  It  is  certainly  among  things  conceivable  — 
who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  ?  —  that  God  in  His  provi- 
dence may  be  preparing  the  way  for  a  General  Coun- 
cil of  Christendom  that  shall  be  truly  such."  It  is 
this  which  is  the  aim  of  the  World  Conference.  And 
surely  it  is  cause  for  thankfulness  that  such  a  gather- 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  53 

ing  can  now  be  seriously  contemplated;  that  we  have 
reached  the  time  when  it  seems  possible  to  hold  that 
"  gracious  interview  of  friends  so  long  divided  "  for 
which  good  John  Hales  prayed  three  hundred  years 
ago;  that  after  centuries  of  estrangement  Christians  are 
now  preparing  to  meet  together  not  for  controversy 
but  for  conference;  not  to  see  how  much  they  differ, 
but  to  see  how  much  they  are  at  one;  to  face  the 
differences  honestly,  but  in  the  spirit  of  love  and 
brotherhood,  with  the  desire,  and  prayer,  that  Our 
Lord's  will  for  the  visible  unity  of  His  Church  may  be 
fulfilled.  It  is  hoped  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
may  yet  find  it  possible,  in  some  way  to  participate. 
If  it  shall  be  God's  will  for  this  great  Conference  to 
assemble,  representing  all,  or  almost  all,  the  Christian 
Communions  of  the  world,  who  shall  say  what  may 
be  possible  in  such  a  gathering,  who  shall  estimate  its 
effect  upon  the  imaginations  and  the  hearts  of  men, 
who  shall  measure  its  moral  and  spiritual  power,  or 
predict  what  the  results  following  from  it  may  be? 

At  the  last  General  Convention,  held  in  Detroit,  in 
1919,  a  Proposal  was  presented  providing  for  ap- 
proach towards  unity  between  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  and  the  Congregational  Church,  and  a 
Commission  was  appointed  to  confer  officially  upon 
this  subject  with  a  like  Commission  appointed  by  the 
National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches.  This 
proposal  which  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  "  Con- 


54  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

cordat,"  was  the  result  of  informal  conferences  pre- 
viously held  between  representatives  of  the  Congre- 
gational and  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches.  It  sug- 
gests a  mutual  agreement  and  arrangement  under 
which,  without  casting  doubt  or  reflection  upon  the 
reality  or  efficacy  of  their  present  ministry,  Congre- 
gational ministers  may  apply  for  ordination  to  the 
office  of  the  Priesthood  by  a  Bishop  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church.  It  is  agreed  that  a  minister  thus 
applying  for  ordination  must  do  so  with  the  consent 
of  his  own  ecclesiastical  authorities  and  of  his  con- 
gregation, that  he  shall  satisfy  the  Bishop  that  he 
holds  the  historic  faith  of  the  Church,  as  contained  in 
the  Apostles  and  Nicene  Creeds,  that  he  shall  then  be 
confirmed,  that  he  shall  be  ordained  Deacon  and  Priest, 
and  that  thereafter  in  ministering  the  Sacraments  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  he  shall  use  a  pre- 
scribed form  which,  while  it  shall  be  the  minimum, 
shall  include  all  that  can  be  rightly  regarded  as  essen- 
tial. The  minister  thus  ordained  is  then  to  continue 
his  ministrations  in  his  own  religious  organization 
but  is  to  remain  under  the  guidance  and  discipline  of 
the  Bishop  and  is  to  meet  the  Bishop,  at  such  times 
as  may  be  arranged,  "  for  Communion,  and  for  coun- 
sel and  cooperation." 

This  proposal  is  recognized  by  both  sides  to  be  im- 
perfect, and  only  an  interim  measure.  It  is  not  looked 
upon  as  an  arrangement  which  could  be  permanently 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK  FOR  UNITY  55 

satisfactory.  It  is  not  a  comprehensive  scheme  of 
unity  but  is  suggested  only  as  "  a  practical  approach 
toward  eventual  union  by  the  establishment  of  inter- 
communion in  particular  instances."  If  carried  into 
effect,  however,  it  may  prove  to  be  an  important 
step  in  the  direction  of  reunion.  Whether  the  results 
arrived  at  by  the  further  official  conferences,  now 
taking  place;  will  receive  the  approval  of  the  govern- 
ing bodies  of  the  two  Communions,  remains  to  be 
seen.  However  this  may  be  all  must  recognize,  and 
pay  honor  to,  the  nobility  of  purpose,  the  breadth  of 
mind,  and  the  truly  Christian  spirit  shown  by  the 
eminent  Congregationalists  who,  at  no  small  risk  of 
misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  some  of  their  own 
brethren,  have  indicated  their  readiness,  under  care- 
fully prescribed  conditions,  to  receive  Episcopal  ordi- 
nation to  the  priesthood,  and  to  make  such  great  con- 
cessions for  the  sake  of  unity.  Such  a  spirit  shown 
by  leading  ministers  of  a  great  Protestant  Communion 
is  an  example,  and  a  challenge  to  all  of  us.  It  gives 
new  hope  and  promise  to  the  outlook  for  unity.  And 
this  is  only  one  of  a  number  of  definite  proposals  now 
under  consideration  in  various  parts  of  the  world 
for  approach  towards  unity  on  the  basis  of  the  Chi- 
cago Lambeth  Quadrilateral. 

The  plan  suggested  by  the  Bishop  of  London  for 
approach  between  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  and  that  suggested  by 


56  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

the  Bishop  of  Zanzibar  as  a  basis  for  the  union  of 
the  Churches  in  East  Africa  are,  in  principle,  the  same 
as  the  proposed  Concordat  between  the  Congrega- 
tional and  Episcopal  Churches  in  the  United  States. 
There  are  some  who  see  danger  in  these  efforts  to- 
wards unity,  and  no  doubt  there  are  risks  involved  in 
them.  But  there  are  risks  also  in  our  present  situa- 
tion. There  is  grave  danger  to  the  Faith  of  Christ 
in  the  continuance  of  our  present  divisions.  It  is 
these  which  are  paralyzing  the  Church  and  producing 
apostasy  and  unbelief  among  men.  But,  whatever  the 
attitude  of  individuals,  or  particular  Communions,  to- 
wards it,  the  approach  towards  unity  is  taking  place. 
We  can  be  in  no  doubt  as  to  this.  The  signs  of  it 
are  unmistakable.  God  the  Spirit  is  moving  over 
the  chaos  of  our  divisions.  On  all  sides,  and  in  quar- 
ters where  this  might  least  have  been  expected,  men 
are  seeing  the  vision  of  fellowship  and  brotherhood. 
If  we  will,  we  may  have  our  part  in  bringing  it  to 
pass.  But  whether  we  do  our  part,  or  not,  its  com- 
ing will  not  tarry.  For  the  vision  is  from  Christ 
Himself.  And  because  it  is  from  Him,  it  will  be  ful- 
filled. 


Ill 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY 

The  call  to  unity  is  clear.  The  outlook  for  it  is 
more  hopeful  than  at  any  time  since  the  visible  unity  of 
the  Church  was  lost.  In  many  directions  movement 
towards  reunion  is  taking  place.  But  there  are  incal- 
culable difificulties  yet  to  be  met  and  overcome.  There 
are  still  those  who  believe  that  divisions  among  Chris- 
tians are  to  be  acquiesced  in  as  unavoidable ;  there  are 
those  who  hold  that  we  cannot  have  freedom  in  the 
Church  without  sectarianism,  and  there  are  those  who 
believe  in  unity,  but  are  opposed  to  any  measures 
which  might  help  to  bring  it  into  effect.  And  the 
great  divide  between  Protestantism  and  Catholicism 
is  yet  to  be  crossed.  How  are  we  to  continue  the 
present  advance?  What  are  the  next  steps  to  be 
taken?  What  are  the  principles  which  must  guide  us 
in  our  further  progress?  The  first  requisite  for  fur- 
ther advance  towards  unity  is  that  the  desire  for  it 
shall  be  far  more  keenly  felt  among  Christian  people 
generally.  It  is  not  enough  for  this  desire  to  be  felt 
by  the  leaders.  The  unity  of  the  Church  cannot  be 
accomplished  by  arrangement  among  Bishops,  Moder- 

57 


58  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

ators  and  General  Secretaries.  If  the  leaders  of  the 
various  Communions  should  to-morrow  reach  agree- 
ment this  would  be  ineffective  if  it  had  not  behind  it 
the  conscience  and  conviction  of  the  great  mass  of 
Christian  people.  The  leaders  cannot,  in  fact,  move 
far  in  advance  of  those  whom  they  are  to  lead  in  this 
matter.  Until  there  is  a  sincere  and  general  desire 
for  unity  schemes  for  its  promotion  will  meet  with 
only  limited  success.  Our  great  effort  must  be  to 
propagate  the  desire  for  unity.  The  war  has  taught 
us  the  power  of  propaganda  both  for  good  and  for 
evil.  We  need  now  a  wisely  and  vigorously  conducted 
propaganda  for  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church. 
The  longing  for  unity  must  be  aroused  until,  wherever 
Christians  assemble,  prayer  for  its  restoration  will  be 
offered  up.  If  Christians  everywhere,  at  their  Masses 
and  at  their  Prayer  Meetings,  wherever  they  assemble 
in  Christ's  Name,  were  earnestly  praying  for  unity, 
the  day  of  its  coming  would  not  be  long  deferred. 
Only  through  prayer  can  we  find  grace  so  to  sur- 
render our  wills  that  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Unity  can 
accomplish  His  work  in  and  through  us.  It  should 
now  be  the  constant  prayer  of  all  of  us,  both  in  pub- 
lic and  in  private,  that  God  will  put  into  our  hearts 
the  spirit  of  fellowship,  that  He  will  show  us  clearly 
what  is  His  will,  and  that  He  will  giv'e  His  guidance 
especially  to  those  placed  in  positions  of  responsibility 
and  leadership. 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  59 

But  if  we  are  intelligently  to  desire,  and  pray  for, 
unity  we  must  have  clearly  before  us  what  its  mean- 
ing is,  and  what  it  involves.  There  is  great  need  to- 
day for  clear  thinking  about  unity.  People  of  a  prac- 
tical, business-like,  type  of  mind  often  ask,  somewhat 
impatiently,  why  there  should  be  all  this  talk  about 
unity.  If  we  want  unity  all  that  we  have  to  do,  ac- 
cording to  their  view,  is  to  forget  our  differences,  and 
get  together,  and  the  thing  is  done.  This  attitude, 
strongly  as  it  may  commend  itself  to  the  man  in  the 
street,  or  the  man  on  the  train,  does  not,  however,  argue 
deep  thought,  or  close  acquaintance  with  the  problem. 
It  is  usually  the  position  of  those  to  whom  all  ques- 
tions of  Christian  doctrine  seem  equally  meaningless 
and  unimportant.  We  are  to  agree  on  everything  in 
general  because  no  one  longer  believes  anything  in  par- 
ticular. But  this  is  not  the  path  by  which  Christian 
unity  is  to  be  reached.  In  the  first  place  we  must  not 
dismiss  "  talk  "  as  a  thing  wholly  without  value  in 
this,  or  in  any  other  cause.  How  would  the  progress 
thus  far  made  towards  unity  have  been  accomplished 
without  "  talk  "  ?  Those  who  are  called  to  the  work 
of  the  Ministry  should,  it  would  seem,  be  the  last  to 
undervalue  this  instrumentality.  Much  reason  as 
there  may  be  for  the  Scriptural  reference  to  "  the  fool- 
ishness of  preaching "  the  Gospel  has  nevertheless 
been  propagated  by  human  speech. 

What  we  need  is  far  more  talk,  of  the  right  kind, 


6o 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


if  the  cause  of  unity  is  to  be  advanced.  And,  fur- 
ther, it  must  be  recognized  that  the  problem  of  unity 
involves  the  deepest  and  most  sacred  convictions  of 
men's  souls.  These  are  not  to  be  wa.ved  aside  by  an 
impatient  gesture.  The  wounds  of  a  thousand  years 
cannot  be  healed  over  night.  We  shall  not  make  true 
approach  towards  unity  by  ignoring  or  slurring  over 
the  difficulties.  It  is  quite  true  that  we  must  not 
dwell  unnecessarily  on  these,  and  that  we  must  em- 
phasize our  agreements.  But  there  are  differences 
which  are  deep  and  real,  which  are  felt  by  earnest 
Christians  to  be  vital,  and  which  must  be  honestly 
faced  and  dealt  with.  If  in  some  way,  unity  could 
be  brought  about  without  facing  these  difficulties  it 
would  be  unreal,  and  would  have  neither  power  nor 
permanence.  One  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  progress 
has  been  the  fear  that  the  advocates  of  unity  were 
going  to  sacrifice,  or  compromise,  principles.  We 
must  make  it  clear  that  this  is  not  what  is  desired  or 
purposed.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  thought  about 
unity  must  not  be  confined  to  conferences  of  leaders, 
but  must  be  much  more  general  among  Christian  peo- 
ple. We  may  be  quite  sure,  as  Bishop  Hall  says,  that 
the  cause  of  unity  is  to  be  promoted  "  by  hearty  loy- 
alty to  actual  and  present  obligations,  not  by  self- 
willed  eccentricity."  "  If  we  are  failing  in  known 
or  plain  duties,  neglecting  privileges,  and  despising 
discipline,  how  can  we  expect  to  win  others  to  an 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY 


6i 


ordered  and  united  Christian  life?"^  We  must  set 
ourselves  earnestly  and  intelligently  to  understand  our 
own  position  as  Christians,  whatever  this  may  be. 
We  must  ask  if  there  is  real  justification  for  the  con- 
tinued separation  of  our  respective  Communions,  from 
the  rest  of  the  Christian  Church  and,  if  so,  what  this 
is. 

The  only  thing  which  can  justify  any  of  us  in  con- 
tinued separation  is  that  we  are  holding  for  others, 
as  well  as  for  ourselves,  some  truth,  or  principle,  es- 
sential to  the  Gospel,  and  to  the  life  of  the  United 
Church,  which  would  be  lost  or  jeopardized,  if  we 
should  at  once  unite  with  other  Christians.  But  we 
must  be  sure  that  this  principle  which  we  are  holding 
in  trust  is  an  essential  one,  and  that  our  present  enter- 
ing into  union  with  others  would  actually  involve  its 
loss  or  compromise.  We  must  discriminate  between 
our  principles  and  our  preferences,  or  our  prejudices. 
And  we  know  how  easy  it  is  for  the  best,  and  wisest, 
of  us  to  confuse  the  one  of  these  with  the  other. 
Differences  there  are  which  are  matters  of  principle, 
but  we  must  not  rest  helpless  even  before  these.  We 
must  ask  if  these  opposing  principles  are  actually  ir- 
reconcilable. We  must  ask  whether  these  apparently 
contrary  positions  may  not  after  all  both  of  them  be 
essential,  and  whether  there  is  not  some  still  higher 
truth  in  the  light  of  which  they  can  be  reconciled.  It 

1  Lenten  Pastoral,  1911. 


62 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


is  this  irenic  task  to  which  Christian  scholars  and 
theologians  of  all  names  are  now  called. 

We  must  not  only  understand  our  own  position  as 
Christians,  and  the  reasons,  if  there  are  any,  for  our 
continued  separation,  we  must  get  clearly  before  our 
minds  what  the  unity  of  the  Christian  Church  means. 
If  there  is  still  doubt,  or  misgiving,  or  apathy  in  re- 
gard to  Christian  unity,  this  arises  largely  from  lack 
of  a  true  conception  of  it.  Our  need  now  is  not  so 
much  impassioned  appeals  for  unity,  as  clear  exposi- 
tions of  its  meaning. 

There  is  among  all  Christians  a  true  inward  unity 
of  the  Spirit.  Baptized  into  Christ,  and  joined  to 
Him  by  faith,  we  are  members  one  of  another  as  we 
are  sharers  of  His  life.  We  are  all  members  of  the 
Church  which  is  His  Body.  This  is  the  fundamental 
fact.  It  is  this  fact  of  our  actual,  existing,  oneness 
in  Christ  which  gives  possibility,  and  hope,  of  unity 
in  its  full  realization,  and  it  is  this  which  makes  our 
divisions  so  unnatural.  It  is  the  fact  of  our  brother- 
hood which  makes  schism  a  sin.  We  cannot  empha- 
size too  strongly  the  reality  of  this  inner  unity  of  the 
Spirit  which  now  binds  all  Christians  together.  But 
obviously  this  inner,  invisible,  unity  alone  is  not  sufifi- 
cient.  It  does  not  fulfill  our  own  ideal  of  a  com- 
plete unity.  It  does  not  fulfill  our  Lord's  desire  for 
the  fellowship  of  His  disciples,  as  this  is  declared  to 
us  in  the  New  Testament.    And  it  does  not  give  the 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  63 

needed  witness  of  Christ's  power  to  an  unbelieving 
world.  We  cannot  be  satisfied,  and  the  world  will 
not  be  convinced,  by  a  merely  invisible  unity.  In  this 
world  soul  must  have  a  body,  spirit  must  have  out- 
ward manifestation.  If  our  unity  of  the  Spirit  were 
all  that  it  should  be  it  would  necessarily  express  itself 
in  visible  fellowship ;  so  long  as  it  fails  to  do  this  it  is 
imperfect  and  incomplete.  Manifestly  our  unity  is 
not  what  it  should  be  while  Christians  do  not  meet 
together  at  the  Table  of  the  Lord. 

It  is  feared  by  some,  however,  that  the  visible  unity 
of  the  Church  might  be  too  much  a  matter  of  mere 
outward  organization.  This  is  a  fear  to  be  heeded, 
and  a  danger,  if  it  exists,  to  be  sedulously  guarded 
against.  A  unity  of  mere  external  organization  would 
be  no  unity  at  all.  It  would  be  a  body  without  a  soul, 
lifeless  and  useless  for  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  But 
there  is  no  reason  why  organization  should  be  over- 
emphasized in  the  United  Church.  The  primary  ob- 
ject of  unity  is  not  the  strengthening  of  organization, 
but  the  deepening  and  enlarging  of  spiritual  life.  Its 
great  purpose  is  that,  coming  into  fellowship  with 
one  another,  we  may  come  also  into  fuller  fellowship 
with  Christ,  and  may  manifest  Him  more  truly  to 
the  world.  But  our  inner  unity  in  Christ  must  be 
exhibited  in  a  fellowship  which  men  can  see.  What 
is  needed  is  such  outward  organization,  and  only  such, 
as  will  give  expression  to  the  inward  fact,  and  make 


64 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


the  Church  the  effective  organ,  and  witness,  of  the 
Living  Christ.  No  mere  system  of  federation  can 
meet  this  need  or  can  take  the  place  of  unity.  Unity 
is  the  fellowship,  in  soul  and  deed,  of  those  who  are 
one.  Federation  is  the  joint  action  of  those  who  are 
still  divided.  Cooperation  in  good  works  to  the  ut- 
most possible  extent  among  separated  Communions 
is  admirable  and  most  helpful.  But,  as  Christians, 
we  are  called  not  to  acquiesce  in  divisions,  we  are 
called  to  end  them.  We  want  not  a  "  gentlemen's 
agreement  "  among  those  who  continue  in  separation 
but  the  unity  of  those  who  belong  to  one  family,  and 
dwell  in  one  household.  The  unity  which  we  seek 
is  not  something  which  we  can  make.  It  is  some- 
thing which  God  gives.  It  is  from  above,  not  from 
below.  It  is  the  life  of  the  one  Spirit  knitting  us 
together  in  the  one  Body.  Let  us  remember  that  we 
are  not  called  upon  to  create  the  unity  of  the  Church. 
Ours  is  the  humbler  task  of  ceasing  to  obstruct  and 
obscure  it.  We  are  called  upon  to  manifest  the  unity 
which  already  exists.  We  are  called  not  to  create  a 
Church  in  which  Christians  may  become  united,  but 
to  restore  the  broken  unity  of  the  Church  created  by 
Christ  Himself  in  which  we  are  inwardly  and  spirit- 
ually one.  We  are  called  to  let  the  world  see  the 
unity  which  is  already  ours  in  Christ. 

Unity  is  necessary  for  the  Church's  witness,  that 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  65 

men  may  see  in  her  the  evidence  of  Christ's  continued 
presence  with  us. 

Unity  is  necessary  for  the  Church's  work,  that  she 
may  be  the  effective  organ  of  Christ's  power  able  to 
act  and  speak  in  His  Name,  and  to  overcome  the  evil 
in  the  world. 

Unity  is  necessary  for  the  fullness  of  the  Church's 
message.  A  divided  Church  can  neither  apprehend, 
nor  teach,  the  full  truth  of  Christ.  Denominational- 
ism  is  necessarily  one-sided.  It  makes  for  dispropor- 
tion, narrowness  of  view,  over-emphasis  on  some  ele- 
ments of  truth  and  neglect  of  other  elements. 

Unity  is  necessary  for  the  fullness  of  life  in  the 
Church.  The  development  of  special  spiritual  types 
in  separated  groups  is  a  loss  to  all.  The  contact  of 
all  types  in  the  one  household  is  needed  for  interest 
and  stimulus,  for  mutual  education  and  discipline, 
for  the  enrichment  and  full  realization  of  Christian 
character.  Each  group  of  Christians  needs  to  share 
the  spiritual  experience,  and  the  special  spiritual  gifts 
of  each  other  group.  Only  in  unity  and  fellowship 
can  we  learn  the  full  meaning  of  our  Christian 
heritage.  Great  ranges  of  new  power  in  Christ  will 
open  to  all  of  us  in  the  life  of  the  United  Church. 

We  want  unity  not  only  for  the  sake  of  strength, 
or  of  peace,  but  for  the  sake  of  life,  life  for  ourselves 
and  for  others.    We  want  unity  not  only  that  our 


66 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


fellow  Christians  may  bring  us  spiritual  treasures 
which  we  have  not,  but  also  that  we  and  they  together 
may  more  truly  enter  into  those  which  we  have.  Our 
lack  of  communion  with  each  other  obstructs  and 
hinders  our  communion  with  Christ. 

We  want  unity  so  that  all  of  us  may  receive  more 
fully  the  grace  and  life  that  are  in  Him.  We  want  it 
in  order  that  Christ  Himself  may  be  accepted,  that 
His  glory  may  be  revealed,  that  His  Kingdom  may 
be  established  among  men. 

If,  however,  we  are  to  make  true  approach  towards 
unity,  there  are  certain  essential  principles  by  which 
we  must  be  guided.  We  must  be  guided  in  the  first 
place  by  the  principle  of  Christian  loyalty.  In  loy- 
alty to  Christ  we  may  not,  even  for  the  sake  of  unity, 
surrender,  nor  compromise  the  truth  of  the  Gospel. 
The  Gospel  is  from  above.  It  is  not  a  human  phi- 
losophy. It  is  a  message  received  from  God.  We 
must  be  true  to  it.  We  must  "  keep  that  which  is 
committed  to  our  trust."  In  the  Church  of  God,  we 
are  not  in  the  position  of  mere  seekers  after  truth, 
we  are  seekers  after  deeper  knowledge  of  the  truth 
clearly  revealed  in  Christ.  Our  faith  rests  not  on 
subjective  opinions  and  impressions,  but  on  the  reali- 
ties of  a  Divine  revelation,  on  actual,  definite,  historic 
facts.  Jesus  Christ  lived,  died,  rose,  ascended  and 
lives  still  with  us  in  His  Church.  We  cannot  change 
or  modify  these  facts.    They  happened,  or  they  did 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  6/ 

not  happen.  They  are  true,  or  they  are  not  true. 
And  if  they  are  not  true  our  "  faith  is  vain,"  as  St. 
Paul  tells  us.^ 

The  Christian  Religion  is  what  Christ  makes  it,  not 
what  any  of  us  think,  or  feel,  about  it.  Approach 
towards  unity  will  be  made  not  by  disregard  of  Chris- 
tian truth,  but  by  fuller  and  deeper  apprehension  of 
it.  As  believers  in  Christ  we  cannot  take  the  posi- 
tion that  creed  and  doctrine  are  unimportant.  Doc- 
trine is  only  a  definite  statement  of  that  which  is  be- 
lieved to  be  true.  Truth,  which  is  the  voice  of  God, 
is  not  unimportant  in  religion.  A  religion  only  of 
sentiment  or  feeling  could  not  satisfy  us.  Religion 
must  speak  to  the  need  of  the  whole  man,  mind,  heart 
and  spirit.  The  Christian  Religion  does  so  speak. 
Jesus  Christ  is  "  the  Life,"  to  be  lived,  but  He  is 
also  the  Truth  to  be  believed.  Religion  without 
doctrine  would  be  religion  without  a  knowledge  of 
Christ.  Some  quite  unessential  results  of  theo- 
logical speculation  have  been  taught  as  doctrines. 
Other  doctrines  are  the  soul  and  substance  of  the  Gos- 
pel. It  is  true  that  a  belief  in  right  doctrine  alone  is 
not  sufficient.  A  man  may  believe  all  the  articles  of 
the  Christian  Faith  and  not  be  in  any  real  sense  a  Chris- 
tian. It  is  quite  true  that  we  need  to  be  more  sim- 
ple in  our  faith.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  we  can 
discard  doctrine.    For  a  Christian,  religion  means 

1 1  Cor.  XV,  14. 


68 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


personal  faith  in,  and  relationship  with  the  living 
Christ.  But  if  we  are  to  be  in  relationship  with 
Christ  we  must  know  Who  He  is,  what  is  His  present 
power,  how  we  may  have  fellowship  with  Him,  and 
these  are  all  questions  of  doctrine.  The  answer  to 
these  questions  is  our  creed. 

The  foundation  of  approach  towards  unity  is  our 
common  belief  in  Christ  as  God  and  Saviour.  This 
is  the  faith  which  unites  us  not  only  with  Christians 
throughout  the  world  to-day,  but  with  all  the  Church 
of  the  past,  which  is  now  the  Church  in  Paradise. 
This  is  the  only  basis  upon  which  it  would  be  possible 
for  Christians  to  unite.  "  Other  foundation  can  no 
man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ." 
No  Christian  Communion  could  give  up  that  which  it 
believes  to  be  essential  to  the  revelation  received  in 
Christ,  nor  could  it  desire  any  other  Communion  to 
do  this.  In  the  phrase  of  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
as  expanded  by  the  Bishop  of  Bombay,  unity  will 
come  "  not  by  compromise  for  the  sake  of  peace,  or 
of  success,  but  by  comprehension  for  the  sake  of  truth, 
and  of  life."  We  do  not  want  "  a  reduced  Christian- 
ity." We  shall  all  be  richer,  not  poorer,  in  faith,  in 
the  life  of  the  United  Church.  The  question  is  not 
what  is  each  Communion  willing  to  surrender,  but 
what  has  each  Communion  to  contribute  that  is  true, 
and  vital,  and  from  God. 

It  is  becoming  clear  to  us  that  our  affirmations  of 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  69 

faith  are  more  important  tlian  our  negations,  and  it  is 
these  which  will  lead  us  towards  unity.  We  at  last 
see  clearly,  and  in  this  lies  the  great  present  hope  of 
progress,  that  each  separated  group  of  Christians 
holds  gifts  of  truth  and  life  which  it  may  not  sur- 
render, but  which  are  needed  for  the  life  and  fullness 
of  the  whole  Church.  We  do  not  wish  to  see  any 
Communion  compromise  its  convictions,  or  "  disown 
its  past."  The  United  Church  will  be  more  than  a 
return  to  the  faith  of  the  first  days.  The  spiritual 
struggles  of  these  later  times  have  had  their  meaning 
also.  The  United  Church  will  contain  all  the  revela- 
tion given  in  Christ,  all  the  great  Catholic  heritage 
of  the  Church  of  the  first  centuries,  but  it  will  con- 
tain also  all  the  spiritual  fruit,  all  the  rich  product, 
of  the  Christian  faith  and  experience  of  the  genera- 
tions since,  including  that  which  has  been  developed 
through  the  stress,  and  trial,  and  discipline  of  our  ! 
divisions. 

We  must  be  guided  by  the  principle  of  Christian 
loyalty,  but  also,  and  equally,  in  our  approach  towards 
unity,  we  must  be  guided  by  the  principle  of  Christian 
liberty.  In  loyalty  to  Christ  we  may  not  demand, 
as  a  condition  of  unity  with  our  fellow  Christians, 
anything  that  is  not  actually  essential  to  Christian 
faith  and  life.  If  we  demand  acceptance  of  that  which 
is  not  essential,  if  we  require  that  which  Christ  Him- 
self would  not  require  for  fellowship  in  His  Church, 


70  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

then,  whether  consciously  or  unconsciously,  we  are 
placing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  His  work  in  this  world. 
We  are  opposing  the  will  of  Christ  that  His  follow- 
ers may  be  visibly  one;  we  are  making  it  harder  for 
the  world  to  believe  that  God  has  sent  Him.  It  is 
now  time  for  "  each  Church  to  judge  for  itself,  as  it 
would  be  judged  by  its  Lord,  whether  it  so  holds  its 
own  position  as  to  prevent  any  other  part  of  the 
Church  from  communion  with  the  whole  Church." 

Proper  freedom  for  all  in  the  Christian  life,  oppor- 
tunity for  full  spiritual  realization  and  expression, 
liberty  in  its  highest  meaning,  in  voluntary  obedience 
to  God's  law,  this  is  itself  a  principle  of  the  Gospel 
which  must  be  sacredly  guarded.  As  we  approach  to- 
wards unity  we  need  more  reverent  thought,  clearer 
knowledge,  deeper  insight  into  Christian  truth,  that 
we  may  see  it  in  right  proportion,  that  we  may  do  jus- 
tice to  the  views  of  those  who  differ  from  us,  that  we 
may  distinguish  between  principles  and  preferences, 
between  the  essential  and  the  non-essential.  People 
imagine  too  often  that  by  unity  is  meant  uniformity 
in  all  sorts  of  details  of  faith  or  worship  which  are 
no  part  of  the  essence  of  our  religion,  but  matters  only 
of  opinion,  taste,  or  preference.  Unity  does  not 
mean  that  we  are  to  be  deprived  of  our  lawful  Chris- 
tian liberty  in  these  matters,  nor  that  other  Christians 
are  to  be  deprived  of  theirs.  It  does  not  involve  our 
conforming  precisely  to  their  pattern,  nor  their  con- 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  7I 

forming  precisely  to  ours.  The  Anglican  and  Free 
Church  signers  of  the  English  "  Interim  Report  "  say 
truly  that  "  the  visible  unity  of  the  Body  of  Christ 
is  not  adequately  expressed  in  the  cooperation  of  the 
Christian  Churches  for  moral  influence  and  social 
service,"  and  can  "  only  be  fully  realized  through  com- 
munity of  worship,  faith,  and  order,  including  common 
participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper,"  but  they  add  with 
equal  truth,  "  this  would  be  quite  compatible  with  a 
rich  diversity  in  life  and  worship." 

It  would  not  be  inconsistent  with  unity  if  the  differ- 
ent groups  of  Christians  should  continue  their  present 
organizations,  with  entire  control  of  their  own  affairs, 
with  all  their  special  usages  and  methods,  provided 
that  these  usages  are  in  accord  with  the  principles  of 
the  common  Faith,  and  recognizing  that,  in  these  un- 
essential matters,  a  like  freedom  must  be  allowed  to 
all  others.  Why  should  not  the  various  groups  so 
carry  on  their  work  for  Christ,  not  as  opposed,  and 
separated.  Communions,  but  as  mutually  helpful,  and 
fully  recognized  parts  of  the  one  great  Church?  Why 
should  not  each  group  have  all  the  independence  which 
it  now  has,  not  only  as  to  administration,  and  meth- 
ods of  practical  work,  but  as  to  ritual,  as  to  forms 
of  worship,  as  to  devotional  expression,  as  to  em- 
phasis on  particular  aspects  of  doctrine  or  spiritual 
life,  provided  only  that  this  shall  all  be  in  accord  with 
the  accepted  common  standard  as  to  essentials  ?  Why 


72  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

should  not  each  group  continue  to  have  this  freedom, 
with  the  still  greater  freedom  added  of  full,  unhin- 
dered access  to,  and  fellowship  with  all  other  groups? 
There  is  no  Protestant  principle  against  this.  There 
is  certainly  no  Catholic  principle  against  it.  The 
Catholic  rule  is  "  unity  in  things  essential,  liberty  in 
things  non-essential,  charity  in  all."  This  is  in  ac- 
cord, and  nothing  less  free  is  in  accord,  with  every 
principle  of  Christ's  religion. 

All  Christians  could  then  continue  to  be  identified 
with  the  group  to  which  they  felt  drawn  by  tradition, 
association,  or  temperament,  the  varied  customs,  the 
special  spiritual  excellences  of  each  would  be  pre- 
served and  continued  for  the  enrichment  of  the  life  of 
the  whole  Church,  but  schism  would  be  at  an  end, 
extremes  would  be  balanced  and  tempered,  all  would 
feel  a  new  power  through  their  fellowship  in  the  one 

\  visible  Church.  The  thing  essential  for  Christian 
unity  is  not  oneness  in  details  of  worship,  or  in 

^  methods  of  administration,  but  such  fellowship  in 
faith  and  order  as  shall  make  possible  full  inter- 
communion without  doubt  or  question  in  the  minds 
of  any.  The  Bishop  of  London,  in  his  proposal 
for  unity  with  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  says 
"  The  Methodist  Church  would  continue  its  class 
meetings,  and  its  Conferences,"  it  "  would  retain  its 
Connection,  and  its  order  in  the  reunited  Church  "  and 
would  "  go  on  with  its  habits  and  its  practices  undis- 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  73 

turbed."  In  his  proposal  for  unity  among  the  various 
Communions  in  East  Africa  the  Bishop  of  Zanzibar 
says  "  Non-Episcopal  bodies  accepting  Episcopacy 
would  remain  in  full  exercise  of  their  own  constitu- 
tions, working  parallel  with  the  present  Episcopal 
churches."  It  is  fellowship  at  the  Table  of  the  Lord 
which  is  the  essential  matter.  This  is  the  true  realiza- 
tion, the  indispensable  requisite,  the  sign  and  seal  of 
unity.  Without  this,  unity  among  Christians  cannot 
be  truly  manifested.  The  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  are  of  Divine  appointment,  and  are 
therefore  essential.  They  were  instituted,  and  com- 
manded to  be  continued,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
Himself.  But  the  particular  form  of  service  to  be 
used  when  these  Sacraments  are  administered  is  not 
essential,  except  in  so  far  as  this  is  necessary  to  en- 
sure their  ministration  in  accordance  with  our  Lord's 
institution  of  them.  This  secured,  the  form  of  serv- 
ice may  be  long  or  short,  simple  or  ornate,  liturgical 
or  non-liturgical  with  equal  loyalty  to  essential  prin- 
ciple. The  Lambeth  Quadrilateral  specifies,  as  to  the 
method  of  administering  these  Sacraments,  only  that 
they  shall  be  "  ministered  with  unfailing  use  of  Christ's 
words  of  institution,  and  the  elements  ordained  by 
Him." 

In  the  administration  of  Baptism  the  use  of  the  sign 
of  the  Cross  is  not  essential,  nor  is  the  provision  of 
Sponsors,  nor  the  method  of  using  the  water  whether 


74  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

by  immersion  or  by  pouring.  In  the  administration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  the  use  of  vestments  is  not  es- 
sential, nor  is  the  form  or  arrangement  of  the  Church 
building,  nor  the  manner  in  which  the  congregation 
receives  the  Sacrament.  In  these  and  all  such  non- 
essential matters  we  must  be  willing  to  allow  full  free- 
dom to  all.  We  must  require  no  more  as  a  condition 
of  fellowship  than  is  actually  essential.  If  we  would 
be  Catholic,  and  Christian,  we  must  be  true  not  only 
to  the  principle  of  loyalty,  but  also  to  the  principle 
of  liberty.  We  may  feel,  and  with  good  reason,  the 
importance  and  spiritual  value  of  an  orderly  and  beau- 
tiful ceremonial  of  worship.  But  worship  just  as 
real  may  be  offered  in  the  tent  of  a  traveling  evangelist 
as  in  the  noblest  cathedral.  It  is  true  that  the  Liturgy 
comes  to  us  with  the  authority  and  weight  of  most 
sacred  use  and  association.  Those  of  us  who  have 
inherited  it,  and  who  know  its  power  could  never 
forego  its  use.  But  we  should  not  be  justified  in 
requiring  this  of  others.  We  have  no  right  to  insist 
either  that  all  Christians  shall  worship  with  a  book, 
or  that  all  shall  worship  without  one.  Eastern  Chris- 
tians are  accustomed  to  pray  standing  up.  There  is 
no  reason  why  they  should  be  compelled  to  kneel,  nor 
why  Anglicans  or  others,  should  be  prevented  from 
doing  so.  The  dress  worn  by  the  minister  at  Divine 
service  is  not  an  essential  matter.  The  use  of  special 
vestments  may  appear  to  us  highly  proper,  and  may 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  75 

have  many  advantages,  but  it  is  not  a  matter  of  Di- 
vine prescription  as  to  which  we  may  demand  uniform- 
ity. Scholars  tells  us  in  fact  that  special  vestments 
did  not  come  into  general  use  until  about  the  seventh 
century.  Before  that  time  the  clergy  wore  the  ordi- 
nary dress  of  the  day  both  in  church  and  out  of  it. 
And  the  use  of  a  distinctive  dress  by  the  clergy  did 
not,  as  some  may  imagine,  originate  with  Rome. 
The  custom  originated  in  the  Eastern  and  Galilean 
Churches  and  was  disapproved  by  Rome.  A  pope  of 
the  fifth  century  wrote  to  certain  Galilean  Bishops 
who  were  guilty  of  these  innovations,  much  as  a  Pres- 
byterian of  the  old  school  might  write  to-day,  "  We 
should  be  distinguished  from  the  people  by  our  learning, 
not  by  our  clothes." 

The  dress  of  the  minister  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
has  its  value  and  importance,  as  thirteen  hundred  years 
of  usage  may  attest,  but  it  is  not  essential  that  the  ser- 
mon should  be  preached  either  in  a  surplice,  or  in  a 
black  gown,  and  the  Holy  Communion  may  be  validly 
celebrated  in  alb  and  chasuble,  in  a  military  uniform, 
or  in  any  other  garb.  The  Lambeth  Articles  say  not 
one  word  about  ritual.  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
says  that  "  the  particular  forms  of  Divine  Worship, 
and  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  appointed  to  be  used 
therein  "  are  "  things  in  their  own  nature  indifferent, 
and  alterable,  and  so  acknowledged."  This  does  not 
mean  that  we  are  to  have  no  law  as  to  the  form  of 


76  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

worship,  or  that  the  members  of  a  particular  Com- 
munion are  not  bound  by  such  prescription  as  to  wor- 
ship and  ritual  as  may  be  made  by  their  own  duly  con- 
stituted authorities.  They  are  manifestly  under  obli- 
gation to  abide  by  such  provisions.  It  does  mean  that 
no  existing  Communion  should  wish,  or  would  have 
the  right,  to  impose  its  own  customs  upon  other  Chris- 
tians, or  to  demand  conformity  in  these  matters  as  a 
condition  of  fellowship. 

There  is  complete  intercommunion  and  unity  between 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  and  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  Australia  or  Canada  or  else- 
where, but  these  Churches  are  under  the  direction 
of  no  central  organization,  or  authority.  Each  is  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  other  in  its  administration, 
each  has  in  many  respects,  and  is  free  further  to  de- 
velop, its  own  customs  and  usages,  in  harmony  with 
the  common  standard  of  Faith.  Their  Bishops  meet 
together  in  conference  at  Lambeth  once  in  ten  years, 
but  attendance  at  this  gathering  is  voluntary,  and  the 
conference  possesses  no  governmental  authority  or 
function.  It  is  true  that  each  of  these  Churches  uses 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  this  is  a  strong 
bond.  But  this  is  not  essential  to  their  unity.  The 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  changes,  or  re- 
vises, the  Prayer  Book  as  it  sees  fit,  without  consulta- 
tion with  its  sister  Churches,  and  would  be  free  even 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  77 

to  dispense  with  the  use  of  this  noble  book  of  worship 
if  it  should  ever  wish  to  do  so. 

It  would  be  a  great  step  on  the  way  to  unity  if 
Christians  would  now  recognize  that  in  non-essential 
matters  there  must  be  liberty  in  all  parts  of  the  Church, 
with  full  room  for  the  free  working  of  the  Spirit. 
Why  should  it  be  difficult  for  us  to  live  side  by  side 
in  the  same  Church  with  groups  of  Christians  who  in 
these  matters  are  more  primitive,  or  less  primitive, 
more  given  to  simplicity,  or  more  given  to  demonstra- 
tion, than  we  are  ourselves? 

The  question  which  the  world  is  now  asking  is  not 
as  to  any  minor  or  secondary  matter,  but  as  to  whether 
Christianity  is  from  above,  as  to  whether  Jesus  Christ 
still  lives  among  us,  as  to  whether  there  is  truth  and 
hope  and  life  eternal  in  the  Gospel.  It  is  this  ques- 
tion which  must  be  answered  with  the  full  power  of 
a  united  testimony. 

What  is  needed  now  is  a  United  Church  so  faithful 
to  the  Gospel,  so  free,  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  love 
and  fellowship  that  in  it  the  presence  and  glory  of 
Christ  shall  be  made  manifest. 

The  third  principle  which  must  guide  us  in  our 
approach  towards  unity  is  the  principle  of  ecumeni- 
city. We  must  have  always  in  mind  the  ultimate 
ideal,  the  only  full  and  sufficient  goal,  the  reunion  of 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ  throughout  all  the  world. 


78  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

Nothing  lower,  or  less,  than  this  can  satisfy  us;  for 
nothing  less  will  fulfill  the  prayer  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  must  be  true,  always,  to  this  final  purpose.  All 
that  we  undertake  in  the  cause  of  unity  must  be  in 
conformity  with  this,  and  must  be  tested  by  it.  Par- 
tial and  local  movements  towards  unity  are  to  be  en- 
couraged, and  promoted,  to  the  fullest  possible  extent. 
But  we  must  do  nothing,  for  the  sake  of  local  and 
temporary  gain,  which  conflicts  with  the  ultimate  aim, 
or  which  would  lessen  our  power  to  help  towards  its 
attainment.  We  shall  not  be  making  progress  if,  in 
our  efforts  to  close  one  breach,  we  tear  others  wider 
open.  It  is  plain,  for  example,  that  the  Anglican 
Church  would  not  be  serving  the  cause  of  reunion  if, 
for  the  sake  of  much  to  be  desired  closer  approach  to 
the  Protestant  Communions,  she  were  to  let  go  that 
which  she  holds  in  common  with  the  Catholic  Com- 
munions of  both  the  East  and  the  West.  In  all  Com- 
munions we  must  hold  fast  to  those  central  principles 
upon  which  alone  Christians  throughout  the  world  can 
be  united.  We  must  keep  the  full  vision  of  unity  be- 
fore us.  But  we  must  not  wait  for  the  vision  to  real- 
ize itself.  God  does  not  so  teach  us  to  do  our  work 
for  Him. 

There  are  some  who  are  so  eager  for  unity  that 
they  seem  ready  to  cast  all  questions  of  faith  to  the 
winds.  A  Church  so  united  would  have  lost  the  se- 
cret of  its  life  and  would  have  no  power  to  help  and 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  79 

save  the  world.  There  are  others  who  are  so  fearful 
that  the  Faith  may  be  compromised  that  they  are  op- 
posed to  action  of  any  sort.  Unity,  they  seem  to  feel, 
is  to  be  desired,  and  prayed  for,  but  nothing  is  to  be 
done  to  bring  it  about.  Its  accomplishment  is  to  be 
left  wholly  to  God.  Each  of  these  positions  is,  at 
bottom,  a  faithless  one.  We  must  pray,  but  we  must 
act  also.  If  faith  without  works  is  dead,  prayer  with- 
out corresponding  action  is  equally  so. 

The  blessing  is  promised  to  those  who  make  peace, 
not  to  those  who  wait  for  peace  to  come  to  pass  of 
itself.  We  must  believe  and  go  forward.  More  than 
ever  before  we  must  recognize  that  true  inner  unity 
which  already  exists  between  ourselves  and  our  fellow 
Christians  of  every  name.  Catholic  and  Protestant. 
We  must  recognize  more  fully  that  we  are  all  brethren 
in  Christ.  We  must  not  only  accept  but  seek  oppor- 
tunities to  express  this  fellowship,  publicly  and  pri- 
vately, in  every  way  that  is  possible  under  existing 
conditions.  This  attitude  and  spirit  shown  by  all  of 
us  would  carry  us  far.  It  would  soften  our  preju- 
dices, enlarge  our  hearts,  widen  our  outlook,  and  pro- 
duce the  atmosphere  in  which  the  Spirit  of  Peace  can 
do  His  holy  work. 

If,  as  some  feel,  there  are  dangers  in  too  close  ap- 
proach to  our  fellow  Christians,  it  is  certain  that  there 
are  dangers  in  remaining  apart  from  them.  If  a  true 
theology  is  essential  for  the  full  realization  of  unity, 


8o 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


human  fellowship  may  have  much  to  do  with  its  be- 
ginnings. At  Camp  Upton,  where  it  was  my  privilege 
to  serve  for  eleven  months,  the  Chaplains,  both  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant,  met  together  each  Wednesday 
morning  to  discuss  plans  for  their  common  work.  As 
the  opening  prayer  was  ofifered  at  those  meetings  all 
felt  that  God  the  Spirit  was  with  us.  No  one  was 
asked,  or  desired,  to  compromise  his  convictions.  We 
knew  that  there  were  differences  of  faith  among  us, 
but  we  knew,  still  more  deeply,  that  w'e  were  brethren 
in  Christ,  and  found  that  we  could  both  feel  and  work 
as  such.  The  surest  antidote  for  religious  prejudice 
is  human  contact.  The  Gospel  stands  unalterably  for 
truth,  but  its  first  principle  is  love.  Whether  it  be 
called  Catholic,  or  Protestant,  there  is  something  wrong 
with  any  theology  which  sees  danger  in  personal  con- 
tact, or  which  tends  to  separate  men  from  their  fellows. 

We  Christians,  of  all  names,  must  emphasize  the 
fact  of  our  brotherhood.  We  belong  to  one  another 
in  the  bond  which  joins  us  to  Christ.  The  things 
which  unite  us  are  indeed  greater  than  the  things  which 
divide  us.  By  virtue  of  our  Baptism  we  are  all  mem- 
bers of  the  one  Church,  which  is  Christ's  Body.  It 
was  the  great  Von  Dollinger,  in  his  Lectures  on  the 
Reunion  of  the  Churches,  who  wrote :  — 

"  As  being  baptized  we  are  all  on  either  side  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  we  are  all  at  bottom  members  of  the 
Universal  Church.    In  this  great  garden  of  God  let 


THE  APPROACH  TO  UNITY  8l 

US  shake  hands  with  one  another  over  the  confessional 
hedges,  and  let  us  break  them  down  so  as  to  be  able  to 
embrace  one  another  altogether." 

What  we  all  need  is  closer  fellowship  with  Christ. 
This  is  the  path  which  will  lead  us  to  unity.  It  is 
unity  which  is  needed  to  bring  us  the  full  blessing  and 
power  of  our  life  in  Christ,  but  it  is  closeness  to 
Christ  which  is  needed,  above  all  else,  to  bring  us  to 
unity.  It  is  lack  of  holiness  in  the  lives  of  Christians 
which  is  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  unity  of  the  Church. 
If  all  of  us  were  truly  converted  to  Christ  the  way  to 
unity  would  speedily  be  opened.  If  we  are  to  have 
Christian  unity  we  must  be  real  Christians.  The 
great  effort  in  all  Communions  must  be  to  raise  the 
level  of  faith  and  life  nearer  to  that  which  Christ 
would  have  it.  The  Church  everywhere  must  make 
higher  demand  upon  her  people.  She  must  ask  higher 
things  spiritually  from  all  of  us,  clergy  and  people 
alike.  In  conjunction  with  the  call  to  unity  there 
must  go  out  a  call  for  more  simple  faith  in  Christ. 
It  is  this  which  will  bring  us  nearer  to  each  other. 
We  are  one  in  the  life  that  is  in  Christ,  and  more 
deeply  than  we  recognize,  we  are  one  also  in  faith. 
We  believe  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  "  God  of  God, 
Light  of  Light,  Very  God  of  Very  God."  Presby- 
terians, Roman  Catholics,  Methodists,  Eastern  Ortho- 
dox, Baptists,  Congregationalists,  Anglicans,  we  are 
all  one  in  this.    And  the  Christian  religion  is  belief 


82 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


in,  and  fellowship  with,  Christ  our  Lord.  Other  mat- 
ters are  important,  but  this  is  the  all  important  matter. 
This  is  the  rock  on  which  all  our  faith  rests.  From 
this  follows  all  else  that  we  believe.  With  this  in 
common  it  must  be  possible  for  us  to  find  the  way  to 
full  fellowship.  We  must  emphasize,  and  hold  con- 
stantly in  view,  the  things  in  which  we  are  at  one. 
"  The  Christian  Church  is  one  family,  and  Christians 
are  brothers.  It  is  a  fact,  not  an  aspiration.  All 
Christians  are  brothers."  ^  The  cry  which  all  of  us, 
Christians  of  every  name,  need  to  hear  to-day  is  "  Sirs, 
ye  are  brethren.'' 

1  Unity  and  Schism,  by  T.  A.  Lacey,  p.  158. 


IV 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION 

Christian  Unity  is  the  greatest  of  all  questions  now 
before  the  Church,  and  the  world.  It  goes  to  the 
root  of  human  life,  and  underlies  all  the  other  prob- 
lems with  which  we  have  to  deal.  If  Christianity 
does  not  bring  the  spirit  of  fellowship  into  the  rela- 
tionships and  affairs  of  men,  what  other  power  is 
there  to  do  this?  The  call  to  unity  is  from  Christ 
Himself,  and  therefore  it  comes  with  compelling  force 
to  all  Christians,  Catholic  and  Protestant.  In  our  ap- 
proach towards  unity  we  must  be  true  to  the  principle 
of  Christian  loyalty,  and  true,  equally,  to  the  principle 
of  Christian  liberty.  Unity  will  be  reached  not  by 
the  path  of  elimination  but  by  the  path  of  inclusion; 
not  by  disregard  of  principle  or  conviction,  but  by 
recognition  of  the  whole  truth  seen,  and  witnessed  to, 
by  opposing  sides.  The  United  Church  must  have 
place  in  it  for  "  all  that  is  vital  and  vitalizing."  The 
only  right,  and  the  only  possible,  line  of  approach  to- 
wards unity  is  that  of  fullest  welcome  to  whatever  is 
in  accord  with  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  and  is 
of  proved  value  in  Christian  life  and  experience, 

83 


84  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

In  the  providence  of  God,  and  by  His  ordering  of 
the  events  of  history,  not  by  choice,  or  virtue  of 
its  own,  the  Anghcan  Communion  has  a  unique  op- 
portunity to  further  the  advance  of  unity  along 
this  path.  The  Anghcan  Church  is  called  now  to 
realize,  as  never  before,  how  great,  how  truly  God- 
given  is  its  opportunity  to  serve  the  cause  of  reunion. 
Anglicanism,  we  know  well,  has  sins  and  shortcomings 
enough  to  acknowledge  and  repent.  By  its  coldness, 
at  times  when  the  currents  of  its  spiritual  life  ran 
low,  it  has  discouraged  enthusiasm,  it  has  failed  to 
sympathize  with  new  movements,  it  has  been  respon- 
sible, in  part,  for  divisions  which  might  have  been 
avoided.  By  its  too  great  emphasis  on  uniformity, 
its  formality  and  fear  of  novelty,  it  has  repressed  too 
much  the  spirit  of  individual  enterprise,  and  the  more 
emotional  side  of  religious  life.  By  its  connection 
with  the  State,  a  connection  not  begun  at  the  Reforma- 
tion, but  existing  through  its  identification  with  the 
English  race  from  its  earliest  beginnings,  the  life  and 
work  of  the  Church  of  England  have  been  in  these  later 
days  hampered  and  hindered.  All  this  and  more  we 
must  acknowledge,  but  nevertheless  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion has  had  its  own  great  part  to  play  in  the  life 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  it  seems  now  to  have  a 
mission  to  fulfill  for  which  it  has  been  providentially 
prepared.  The  Anglican  Church  has  stood  both  for 
the  Catholic  Faith  and  for  the  spirit  of  progress,  for 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  85 

the  principle  of  authority  and  the  principle  of  free- 
dom ;  for  the  full  recognition  of  both  the  supernatural 
and  the  natural;  for  the  reality  of  Revelation  and  for 
the  rights  of  reason.  She  has  developed  the  temper 
of  soberness,  steadfastness,  and  wide  tolerance.  The 
characteristic  notes  of  her  life  may  be  said  to  be  sanity, 
charity  and  love  of  truth.  She  has  shown  her  power 
to  produce  true  saints,  great  leaders  in  social  reform, 
sons  and  daughters  whose  names  are  among  the  great- 
est in  history.  One  of  her  most  distinctive  contribu- 
tions has  been  her  work  in  the  field  of  scholarship.  It 
was  one  of  her  wisest  sons,  the  late  Bishop  Creighton, 
who  described  her  as,  "  the  Church  of  sound  learn- 
ing." So  impartial  a  witness  as  Mr.  Lecky  says: 
"  Looking  at  the  Church  of  England  from  the  intel- 
lectual side,  it  is  plain  how  large  a  proportion  of  the 
best  intellect  of  the  country  is  contented,  not  only  to 
live  within  it,  but  to  take  an  active  part  in  its  minis- 
trations. There  is  hardly  a  branch  of  serious  Eng- 
lish literature  in  which  Anglican  clergy  are  not  con- 
spicuous. There  is  nothing  in  a  false  and  supersti- 
tious creed  incompatible  with  some  forms  of  litera- 
ture (as,  for  example,  poetical  genius  and  beauty  of 
style).  But  in  the  Church  of  England  literary 
achievement  is  certainly  not  limited  to  these  forms. 
In  the  fields  of  physical  science,  in  the  fields  of  moral 
philosophy,  metaphysics,  social,  and  even  political  phi- 
losophy, and  perhaps  still  more  in  the  fields  of  history, 


86 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


its  clergy  have  won  places  in  the  foremost  rank  .  .  . 
marked  not  only  by  profound  learning,  but,  to  an 
eminent  degree,  by  judgment,  criticism,  impartiality, 
a  desire  for  Truth,  a  skill  in  separating  the  proved 
from  the  false,  or  the  merely  probable.  There  is  no 
other  Church  which  has  shown  itself  so  capable  of 
attracting  and  retaining  the  services  of  men  of  general 
learning,  criticism  and  ability." 

Through  the  long  centuries  of  her  life,  dating  back 
to  the  days  before  there  was  a  united  nation  in  Brit- 
ain, the  influence  of  the  Church  of  England  has  been 
incalculable  in  producing  that  type  of  character  which 
has  given  the  English-speaking  peoples  their  present 
place  in  the  life  of  the  world,  and  their  great  respon- 
sibility for  its  future. 

The  Anglican  Church  has  never  for  a  moment 
thought  of  herself  as  the  whole  Church  of  Christ. 
Her  highest  claim  has  been  that,  in  spite  of  her  many 
insufficiencies,  she  is  a  true  part  of  the  Church.  She 
has  believed  that  she  was  holding  certain  essential 
principles  to  which  she  must  bear  faithful  witness,  as 
belonging  to  the  fullness  of  the  Gospel,  and  as  neces- 
sary to  the  life  of  that  United  Church,  the  thought  of 
which  has  been  always  in  her  mind.  But  while  stead- 
fastly witnessing  to  these  principles  she  has  based 
upon  them  no  exclusive  claims  for  herself,  and  has 
passed  no  judgment  upon  those  whose  principles  dif- 
fered from  her  own. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  87 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  the  AngHcan 
Church  has  pecuHar  opportunity  to  be  a  reconciHng 
influence  in  Christendom.  The  words  of  the  Roman 
Cathohc  layman  of  France,  de  Maistre,  have  been 
often  quoted.  "  If  ever,"  he  said,  "  and  everything 
invites  to  it,  there  should  be  a  movement  towards  re- 
union among  the  Christian  bodies  it  seems  likely  that 
the  Church  of  England  should  be  the  one  to  give  it 
impulse.  Presbyterianism,  as  its  French  nature  ren- 
dered probable,  went  to  extremes.  Between  us  and 
those  who  practice  a  worship  which  we  think  wanting 
in  form  and  substance  there  is  too  wide  an  interval ; 
we  cannot  understand  one  another.  But  the  English 
Church,  which  touches  us  with  the  one  hand,  touches 
with  the  other  those  with  whom  we  have  no  point  of 
contact.  She  is  like  one  of  those  chemical  re-agents 
which  unite  elements  incapable,  in  their  own  nature, 
of  reunion." 

These  words  point  to  a  truth  the  full  meaning  of 
which  is  only  now  becoming  clear.  We  have  been 
disposed  to  think,  somewhat  complacently,  of  the 
Anglican  Church  as  adhering  closely  to  primitive  Faith 
and  Order,  and  holding  the  middle  ground  upon  which 
extremes  on  either  hand  would  some  day  have  to  meet. 
But  it  is  time  for  us  to  realize  that  unity  will  never 
come,  and  should  never  come,  by  any  mere  path  of 
compromise,  and  that  the  mission  of  the  Anglican 
Communion  is  one  vastly  greater,  much  more  difficult, 


88 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


far  more  noble  than  this.  Christendom  stands  di- 
vided into  two  great  groups,  CathoHc  and  Protestant. 
What  we  need  now  to  see,  and  what  Christians  are  at 
last  beginning  to  see,  is  that  the  central,  pivotal  prin- 
ciples witnessed  to  and  emphasized  by  these  two  great 
separated  groups  are  not  as  fundamentally  opposed 
one  to  another  as  they  have  been  assumed  to  be. 

We  are  coming  to  see  that  at  any  rate  in  their 
beginnings  the  divisions  among  Christians  which  have 
lasted  for  centuries,  and  which  have  worked  such 
untold  harm  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  were  due  more 
to  human  passion  and  prejudice,  to  controversial  bit- 
terness, to  the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  time  in  which 
they  took  place,  than  to  any  actually  irreconcilable 
differences  between  the  opposed  positions. 

If  this  is  the  fact  it  throws  a  most  hopeful  light 
along  the  path  towards  unity.  And  study  of  the  ques- 
tions at  issue  shows  that  this  is  the  fact.  The  divi- 
sions have  been  due  in  most  cases  not  to  essential  in- 
compatibility in  the  different  principles,  but  rather  to 
a  kind  of  intellectual  pride  which  has  refused  to  allow 
place  for  any  apprehension  of  the  truth  but  its  own, 
assuming  that  its  own  apprehension  had  taken  in  the 
whole  of  the  truth.  It  is  the  simple  fact  that  if  there 
had  been  a  reasonable  spirit,  a  temper  of  conciliation, 
a  desire  on  both  sides  to  see  the  truth  without  preju- 
dice, the  divisions  between  Catholics  and  Protestants 
need  never  have  taken  place.    There  was  nothing  in 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  89 

the  contending  principles  which  necessitated  this.  It 
was  not  that  one  of  these  principles  was  true  and  that 
the  other  was  false.  Each  principle  was  in  essence 
equally  true,  and  each  was  needed  for  the  balance  and 
completeness  of  the  other.  This  cannot  of  course  be 
said  of  all  the  differences  in  detail,  nor  of  all  the  issues 
and  questions  which  have  since  developed.  Division 
has  developed  further  difiference,  and  separateness  has 
borne  its  unwholesome  fruit.  But  if  it  can  now  be 
seen,  and  acknowledged,  that  there  was  no  real  neces- 
sity for  division  in  the  beginning,  that  the  questions  at 
issue  did  not  require  this,  that  the  main  principles 
held  by  both  sides  are  true  and  necessary,  this  at  least 
points  the  way  towards  reconciliation,  it  opens  a  real 
door  of  hope,  it  establishes  a  foundation  upon  which 
a  true  unity  may  be  brought  about. 

What  are  the  fundamental  ideas  and  principles  for 
which  the  words  Catholic  and  Protestant  respectively 
stood,  and  for  which  they  still  stand?  The  funda- 
mental question  at  issue  between  the  Catholic  and 
Protestant  positions  is  not  confined  to  the  sphere  of  reli- 
gion. It  is  one  which  runs  through  the  whole  of  life. 
It  is  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  individual  to 
society  as  to  the  whole  of  which  he  is  a  part.  It  is 
this  question  which  is  at  the  root  of  all  our  human 
problems,  social,  political,  industrial,  economic  or 
philosophic.  It  is  only  natural  that  this  question 
should  have  its  place  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  The 


90  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

word  Catholic  means  literally  that  which  is  "  accord- 
ing to  the  whole."  It  connotes  not  only  the  universal 
but  the  corporate,  that  which  relates  to  the  wholeness 
and  the  oneness  of  life.  Essentially  the  word  Cath- 
olic stands  for  authority,  unity,  universality,  for  the 
social  and  corporate  expression  of  Christian  truth  and 
life,  for  emphasis  on  the  Divine  claims  and  the  Divine 
side  of  religion.  And  this  principle  for  which  the 
word  Catholic  stands  is  true,  and  essential  to  Chris- 
tian faith  and  life.  The  word  Protestant  means  lit- 
erally "  witnessing."  It  connotes  personal  witness  to 
truth,  individually  experienced.  Essentially  the  word 
Protestant  stands  for  personal  freedom,  for  individual 
responsibility,  for  the  direct  access  of  the  human  soul 
to  God,  for  the  dignity  and  sacredness  of  the  spirit  of 
man,  for  emphasis  on  individual  development  and  on 
the  human  side  of  religion.  And  this  principle  for 
which  the  word  Protestant  stands  is  also  true,  and  es- 
sential to  Christian  faith  and  life.  Not  only  is  each 
of  these  great  principles  true  but  each  is  of  the  very 
life  of  the  Gospel.  Each  had  its  place  in  the  begin- 
ning, has  its  place  now,  and  must  have  its  place  for- 
ever in  the  life  of  the  Church.  Each  is  a  part  of  the 
faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints.  St.  Paul 
stood  for  each  of  these  principles  with  equal  clearness 
and  fullness.  He  is  claimed  as  confidently,  and  as 
rightly,  by  the  champions  of  the  Protestant  principle 
as  he  is  by  the  champions  of  the  Catholic  principle. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  9I 

Each  principle  is  liable  to  exaggeration  and  undue 
emphasis,  and  each  has  indeed  often  been  exaggerated 
and  unduly  emphasized.  Each  principle  needs  the 
other  to  correct  and  supplement  it.  Neither  principle 
has  in  fact  been  exclusively  the  possession  of  either 
group.  All  along  each  group  has,  in  greater  or  less 
degree,  recognized  the  truth  emphasized  by  the  other. 

What  we  need  now  in  our  approach  towards  unity 
is  not  some  compromise  upon  a  middle  ground  be- 
tween the  fundamental  principle  of  Protestantism  and 
the  fundamental  principle  of  Catholicism,  but  full  rec- 
ognition by  each  group  of  the  truth,  the  importance, 
the  indispensability  of  the  principle  for  which  the 
other  stands. 

It  is  here  that  the  Anglican  Communion  has  to-day 
its  great  opportunity.  The  position  which  the  Angli- 
can Church  holds  is  not  a  mere  via  media,  a  middle 
path  of  compromise  cautiously  taken  to  escape  ex- 
tremes. The  Anglican  Church  does  not  hold  some 
nondescript  position  midway  between  the  opposed 
Catholic  and  Protestant  principles.  She  touches  each 
of  these  on  either  hand,  as  de  Maistre  expressed 
it,  because  she  recognizes  and  finds  place  for  both  the 
Catholic  principle  and  the  Protestant  principle  within 
her  own  life.  She  shows  in  actual  fact  that  these  two 
principles  are  not  mutually  exclusive  and  contradictory. 
She  is  both  Catholic  and  Protestant. 

The  Anglican  Communion  includes  these  two  posi- 


92  Till-,  CAIJ.  TO  UNITY 

tions  wilhiii  her  fold  as  no  other  ( "omniiiiiion  on  earlh 
(Iocs.  She  is  the  one  Coininunion  in  tlie  world  in  which 
those  who  represent  the  ("atholic  ])osition.  and  those 
who  re|)resent  the  rroteslaiil  position,  now  live  and 
work  l()f;ether,  in  fellowship  and  iniity.  It  is  this 
whieh  <;ives  her  the  special  mission  to  which  she  is 
called.  I  ler  mission  is  to  lead  towards  nnity  hy  show- 
in^^,  still  more  clearly  than  she  has  yet  done,  that 
these  apj);ircnll V  o|)i)osc(l  |)rinciplcs  arc  not  incom- 
patible hill  that  each  (iiids  larj.;er  and  fuller  life  hy 
as.sociation  with  llie  other.  It  may  he  that  nntil  we 
are  ready  for  retinioii  it  is  best  for  each  fjronp  of 
Christians  to  (■oiiliiiiic  its  present  liiiiiling  denomina- 
tional name,  if  only  as  a  rciiiinder  of  its  condition  (jf 
separation  and  exile  from  the  full  life  of  the  Catholic 
Chnrch.  If,  however,  the  I'rotestant  ['Episcopal 
Church  should  wish  to  chan^'e  its  name  the  most 
strictly  accurate,  (lie  most  truly  sij^nificanl  and  the 
most  historically  correct  desif^nation  for  it  would  he, 
as  Dr.  Miel  told  us,  the  "Catholic  I'rotestant"  or 
the  "  Protestant  Catholic "  (Jhurch.  'Hie  Anj^lican 
(  hiircli  claims  no  credit  for  the  fad  that  this  is  her 
position.  She  did  not  l.ike  it  of  her  own  wisd(jm,  nor 
of  her  own  ordcriii}^.  .She  has  not  fully  realized  its 
meaninj^,  nor  the  hl^h  missif)n  which  it  j^ivcs  her. 
She  has  in  larj^e  dej^MX-c  accepted  this  position  as  of 
necessity,  mider  comf)ulsion,  and  has  re^'arded  it  often 
as  a  hiirdcii  grievous  to  Ik-  borne,  involving  her  in 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  93 

weakness  and  self-contradiction.  Some  of  her  chil- 
dren, on  each  of  the  opposing  sides,  have  cried  out 
against  it,  a  few  have  even  fled  from  her  fold  in  fear 
of  it,  or  in  failure  to  understand  it.  But  she  is  now 
called  to  see  the  true  meaning  of  her  opportunity  and 
to  put  it  to  full  use  in  the  cause  of  unity.  We  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  lamenting  the  break  between  the 
English  and  the  Roman  Churches,  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  Evil,  however,  as  were  some  of  the 
circumstances,  and  some  of  the  consequences,  of  this 
estrangement  between  sister  Churches  we  can  see, 
more  clearly  than  our  forefathers  did,  that  it  was  of 
providential  ordering.  Like  Joseph,  banished  into 
Egypt,  we  can  now  see  the  Divine  purpose  in  this,  and 
can  say,  as  he  did  on  his  reunion  with  his  brethren, 
"  God  meant  it  unto  good."  As  a  result  of  her  life 
history,  and  of  the  experience  through  which  she  has 
passed,  the  Anglican  Church  has  been  prepared  for 
the  work  of  reconciliation,  she  is  able  not  only  to  under- 
stand but,  still  more  important,  to  feel,  in  some  meas- 
ure, the  religious  value  and  significance,  of  the  truths 
emphasized,  respectively,  by  Eastern  Orthodox,  Roman 
Catholic  and  Protestant  Christianity. 

The  chief  difYerences  of  belief  which  separate  Cath- 
olics from  Protestants  are  those  which  relate  to  the 
nature  of  the  Church,  the  Sacraments  and  the  Minis- 
try. These  questions  are  indeed  of  great  moment. 
None  of  us  could  wish  that  they  should  be  lightly  re- 


94 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


garded,  or  that  their  importance  should  be  under- 
estimated. Even  for  the  sake  of  unity  the  truth  in- 
volved in  these  questions  could  not  be  sacrificed. 
These  are  not  external  questions.  They  touch  the 
very  life  of  the  Gospel.  The  different  views  are  held 
by  the  two  great  sections  of  Christendom  with  deepest 
and  most  serious  conviction.  But  recognizing  the 
seriousness  of  the  questions,  are  the  differences  of  be- 
lief about  them,  such  as  must  permanently  separate 
Christians  from  one  another?  Are  the  different  views 
fundamentally  opposed,  and  irreconcilable,  or  is  it 
true  that,  in  these  vital  matters  each  side  is  contending 
for  something  that  is  indispensable;  that  each  side  is 
in  the  main  right  in  what  it  affirms,  and  wrong  chiefly 
in  what  it  denies ;  that  the  way  to  unity  is  not  by  re- 
jection of  either  belief,  but  by  acceptance  and  recogni- 
tion of  each  as  part,  and  a  necessary  part,  of  the  higher 
truth  which  includes  them  both?  If  this  is  the  fact 
then  no  doubt  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  far  from 
us.  If  we  can  see  that  we  are  not  divided  by  funda- 
mental principle,  we  may  hope  that  other  difficulties, 
serious  though  these  may  be,  can  in  time  be  overcome. 

Catholics  and  Protestants  appear  to  hold  widely  dif- 
fering views  as  to  the  Church.  But  is  the  difference 
here  so  great  as  appears  on  the  surface?  Every 
Christian,  of  whatever  name,  in  his  heart  thinks  of 
the  Church  as  differing  from  any  other  organization 
on  earth,  as  having  some  supernatural  character,  as 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  95 

speaking  and  witnessing  and  ministering  in  the  name 
of  God.  Every  Christian  regards  the  Church  as  some- 
thing more  than  a  social  club  or  an  educational  agency. 
The  Catholic  feels  and  stresses  the  Divine  character 
of  the  Church.  He  stands  for  the  principle  of  au- 
thority, of  continuity,  of  order,  for  the  importance 
and  necessity  of  corporate  faith  and  life.  He  em- 
phasizes the  fact  that  fellowship  in  the  Church  is  nec- 
essary to  spiritual  life  and  development.  The  Prot- 
estant, on  the  other  hand,  feels  and  stresses  the  im- 
portance and  Divine  character  of  the  individual  soul. 
He  stands  for  the  principle  of  liberty,  of  spontaneity, 
of  full  individual  expression.  He  stands  for  the 
fact  that  spiritual  development  is  possible  only 
through  personal  faith  and  individual  experience. 
But  there  is  nothing  in  these  two  principles  that  is  in- 
compatible. So  far  from  being  mutually  exclusive  or 
destructive  they  are  vitally  necessary  to  each  other. 
Every  thoughtful  Protestant  and  every  thoughtful 
Catholic  does  in  fact  hold  both  principles  in  some  de- 
gree. All  must  agree  that  corporate  religion  and  in- 
dividual religion  are  equally  necessary,  and  that  only 
in  the  corporate  life  of  the  Church  can  the  individual 
Christian  find  his  full  life  and  development.  With 
all  their  differences  all  Catholics  and  almost  all  Prot- 
estants in  their  fundamental  conception  of  the  Church 
are  at  one.  They  believe  alike  that  the  Church  is 
Christ's  Body  and  that  it  includes  all  who  share  the 


96  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

life  that  is  received  from  Him.  They  believe  alike 
that  the  Church  is  a  Divine  institution.  In  the  words 
of  an  eminent  representative  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  "  Every  Christian,  in  his  soul,  be  he  rational- 
ist or  sacramentarian,  evangelical  or  sacerdotalist, 
Protestant  or  Catholic,  cherishes  a  supernatural  idea 
of  the  Church,  looks  upon  it  as  the  Bride  of  Christ, 
the  supreme  object  of  His  love,  the  Body  of  Christ, 
the  very  incorporation  of  His  Spirit,  the  Heavenly 
City,  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  Communion  of  Saints."  ^ 
Between  those  who  together  hold  such  a  conception  of 
the  Church  as  this  surely  no  impassable  gulf  is  fixed! 

In  our  discussions  of  Christian  Unity  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  take  the  questions  for  considera- 
tion in  their  proper  order.  If  we  and  our  brethren  of 
the  Nonconformist  Churches  should  begin  by  discuss- 
ing the  Ministry  and  the  question  of  a  valid  ordi- 
nation, we  should  probably  halt  there  indefinitely. 
One  of  the  chief  hindrances  to  progress  has  been  that 
this  question,  important  as  it  is,  has  been  considered 
out  of  its  due  relation  to  the  deeper  question  of  the 
meaning  and  nature  of  the  Christian  Church.  If  we 
find  ourselves  fundamentally  at  one  in  our  conception 
of  the  Church,  we  can  then  approach  subsidiary  ques- 
tions with  far  more  hope  of  agreement.  As  Canon 
Goudge  well  puts  it,  "  We  should  begin  with  the 

1  Revd.  Raymond  Calkins,  in  Approaches  Towards  Church 
Unity,  by  Newman  Smyth  and  Williston  Walker,  p.  85. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  97 

Church,  and  that  brotherhood,  one  with  another, 
which  our  common  membership  bestows.  The  his- 
torical problems  as  to  the  origin  and  character  of  the 
Christian  ministry  are  a  Serbonian  bog,  out  of  which 
we  should  keep  as  long  as  possible.  Let  anybody 
read,  in  any  order  which  he  prefers.  Dr.  Gore's  The 
Church  and  the  Ministry,  Dr.  Lindsay's  The  Church 
and  the  Ministry  in  the  Early  Centuries,  and  Mr. 
Lowrie's  The  Church  and  its  Organisation,  to  take 
but  three  books  out  of  very  many,  and  then  endeavor 
to  balance  the  arguments,  and  put  down  the  conclu- 
sions which  have  clearly  emerged.  ...  It  is  highly 
important  to  keep  the  question  of  the  ministry  in  its 
place.  Broadly  speaking,  the  Church  does  not  so 
much  depend  upon  the  ministry  as  the  ministry  upon 
the  Church.  The  Church  is  not  the  Church  because 
it  has  a  '  valid  ministry ' ;  rather  the  ministry  is  valid 
because  it  is  the  ministry  of  the  Church." 

With  regard  to  the  Ministry,  the  Protestant  em- 
phasizes those  elements  of  the  office  which  are  dis- 
tinctive of  the  prophet,  the  Catholic  emphasizes  those 
elements  of  the  office  which  are  distinctive  of  the 
priest.  It  must  be  admitted  that  Catholics  have  been 
suspicious  of  the  liberty  of  prophesying,  and  that  Prot- 
estants have  been  prejudiced  against  the  idea  of  the 
priesthood.  But  why  should  it  be  so?  Why  should 
either  of  these  ideas  of  the  Ministry  be  regarded  as 

1  The  Catholic  Party  and  the  Nonconformists,  p.  10. 


98  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

denying  or  excluding  the  other?  CathoHc  and  Prot- 
estant, in  fact,  do  recognize,  in  some  measure,  the  ne- 
cessity of  both  priest  and  prophet.  The  Christian  Re- 
ligion calls  for  the  exercise  of  each  of  these  func- 
tions of  the  Ministry.  The  exercise  of  each  function 
is  demanded  by  the  facts  and  needs  of  human  life. 
What  we  need,  and  must  have,  in  the  Ministry  of  the 
Church  is  not  priest  or  prophet,  but  priest  and  prophet, 
with  full  recognition  of  the  place  and  need  of  each. 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself  is  the  perfect  exam- 
ple of  both.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  according  to 
the  Catholic  theory  the  minister  receives  his  authority 
from  above,  while  according  to  the  Protestant  theory 
he  receives  his  authority  from  below.  But  this  is  not 
a  statement  which  does  full  justice  to  the  respective 
positions.  The  difiference  of  view  is  not  as  to  whether 
the  authority  and  power  of  the  minister  come  from 
above  or  from  below,  but  rather  as  to  the  means  by 
which  these  are  conveyed  and  assured  and  as  to  how 
the  ministerial  commission  shall  be  outwardly  authen- 
ticated. Whether  the  prophetic,  or  the  priestly,  as- 
pect of  the  Ministry  is  emphasized;  whether  it  is 
held  that  the  power  to  exercise  its  functions  is  con- 
ve5''ed  and  assured  through  an  outward  and  visible 
ministerial  succession,  or  whether  it  is  held  that  it  is 
given  without  this  outward  means  and  assurance,  each 
side  holds  equally  that  both  the  call  to  the  Ministry, 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  99 

and  the  power  to  exercise  it,  are  from  God.  Catholic 
and  Protestant  alike  believe  that  the  Ministry  speaks, 
and  ministers,  with  authority  from  above.  According 
to  each  view  the  primary  qualification  for  the  work 
of  the  Ministry  is  the  call  of  God  the  Spirit,  and  the 
power  which  He  alone  can  bestow.  The  Protestant, 
it  is  true,  stresses  the  fact  that  the  minister  exercises 
his  functions  as  representing,  and  on  behalf  of,  the 
people.  But  a  true  Catholic  doctrine  holds  firmly  the 
representative  character  of  the  priesthood,  and  teaches 
that  the  priest's  office  exists  only  by  virtue  of  that 
priesthood  of  all  believers,  of  which  it  is  the  organ. 
Dr.  R.  C.  Moberly  says :  "  The  Christian  Ministry  is 
not  a  substituted  intermediary  —  still  less  an  atoning 
mediator  —  between  God  and  lay  people;  but  it  is 
rather  the  representative  and  organ  of  the  whole  body, 
in  the  exercise  of  prerogatives  and  powers  which  be- 
long to  the  body  as  a  whole."  ^  As  Bishop  Gore  ex- 
presses it,  quoting,  in  part.  Canon  Liddon,  "  The  dif- 
ference between  clergy  and  laity  is  not  a  difference  in 
kind,  but  in  function.''  ^ 

The  Catholic  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  a  regular 
form  of  appointment  and  commission  to  the  Ministry, 
he  believes  in  the  principle  of  continuity  and  succes- 
sion as  the  sign  of  power  given  from  above  and  the 

^  Ministerial  Priesthood,  p.  242. 

2  The  Church  and  the  Ministry,  p.  84, 


lOO 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


means  through  which  this  is  outwardly  assured,  and 
holds  that  Episcopal  ordination  is  essential  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  priestly  office. 

The  Protestant  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  the  in- 
ward and  spiritual  gift  proved  by  manifestation  of 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  life  and  work  and  holds 
that  the  form  by  which  the  Commission  is  given  is 
not  essential.  But  wide  as  are  the  differences  between 
these  two  positions  it  is  not  impossible  for  them  to 
dwell  together  in  unity.  Christians  holding  these  dif- 
ferent views  can  dwell  in  fellowship  in  the  one  house- 
hold and  they  do,  in  fact,  so  dwell  in  the  Anglican 
Communion.  It  is  fuller  realization  of  the  sacramental 
truth  of  the  Church  itself  as  the  Body  of  Christ  which 
will  bring  us  to  fuller  and  deeper  views  of  the  Church's 
Ministry. 

Strongly,  and  rightly,  as  we  may  believe  in  the 
necessity  of  a  regular  outward  form  of  appointment 
to  the  Ministry,  and  in  the  principle  of  ministerial 
succession,  we  must  all  of  us  be  willing  to  leave  place 
for  the  free  working  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Recog- 
nizing to  the  full  that  God  works  in  His  Church,  as 
elsewhere,  normally  according  to  a  regular  order,  we 
must  also  recognize,  with  equal  fullness,  that  God 
has  power  to  work  outside  His  established  order. 
And  in  this  matter  of  the  Ministry  we  must  recognize 
that  God  has,  in  fact,  chosen  so  to  work.  We  must 
acknowledge,  and  rejoice  in,  the  presence  and  power 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  lOI 

of  the  Spirit  wherever,  and  by  whatever  means,  it  may 
be  manifested.  That  it  is  necessary  for  those  called 
to  the  Ministry  to  receive  the  power  of  the  Spirit  for 
their  work  all  agree.  Practically  all  Christians  rec- 
ognize the  necessity  for  some  regular  form  of  ordi- 
nation, and  by  almost  all  this  is  given  by  the  laying 
of  hands. 

The  point  to  be  made  clear  is  this.  The  Ministry  of 
each  Christian  denomination  must  be  recognized  as  a 
true  ministry.  Its  spiritual  reality,  and  efficacy,  are 
proved  by  its  power  to  bring  men  to  Christ.  But  it  is 
in  each  case  the  Ministry  of  a  particular  Communion, 
holding  the  commission  only  of  that  Communion,  and 
not  of  the  whole  Church.  All  may  recognize  that  for 
the  exercise  of  the  Ministry  in  the  whole  Church  it  is 
necessary  to  have  the  commission  of  the  whole  Church. 
And  the  commission  which  has  by  far  the  largest  sanc- 
tion, and  use,  is  that  given  through  the  historic  Episco- 
pate. This  was  the  commission  of  the  whole  Church  in 
the  past.  It  is  the  one  accepted  by  much  the  larger  part 
of  Christendom  at  the  present  time.  It  is  manifest 
that  this  must  be  the  commission  for  the  exercise  of 
the  Ministry  of  the  whole  Church  in  the  future. 
What  is  now  needed  is  that  the  Non-Episcopal  Minis- 
tries shall  be  recognized  to  be  true  Ministries,  ac- 
cepted and  used  by  the  Spirit  for  the  work  of  Christ 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  these  Ministries  shall  accept 
the  Episcopate  as  giving  them  the  commission  requisite 


I02 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


for  ministry  in  the  Church  Universal.  And  wider 
scholarship  seems  at  last  to  be  opening  the  way  for  this. 
A  scholar  of  the  Anglican  Church,  so  representative 
of  the  Catholic  school  as  the  Revd.  C.  H.  Turner 
writes  an  essay  of  which  a  representative  Congrega- 
tionalist  scholar,  the  Revd.  Alfred  E.  Garvie,  Princi- 
pal of  New  College,  Hampstead,  says  that  it  "  must 
have  brought  relief  to  others,  as  to  myself,  who  care 
for  the  lessening  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Chris- 
tian reunion.  As  here  presented  the  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession does  not  appear  an  insuperable  obstacle."  Dr. 
Garvie  adds :  "  To  give  to  the  bishops  the  place  they 
have  hitherto  held  in  respect  of  the  ordination  of  min- 
isters, so  long  as,  in  accordance  with  ancient  practice, 
other  presbyters  are  associated  with  them,  would  be 
simply  to  preserve  the  continuity  in  the  Christian 
Church  which  anyone  with  a  proper  historic  sense 
would  desire.  This,  however,  must  not  be  held  to  in- 
volve any  theory  of  the  exclusive  validity  of  episcopal 
ordination."  ^  And  the  Anglican  and  Free  Church 
authors  of  that  remarkable  statement  already  referred 
to,  the  "  Second  Interim  Report,"  say,  "  The  first  fact 
which  we  agree  to  acknowledge  is  that  the  position  of 
Episcopacy  in  the  greater  part  of  Christendom,  as  the 
recognized  organ  of  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the 
Church,  is  such  that  the  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Churches  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  abandon  it  in 

1  See  essay  by  the  Revd.  A.  E.  Garvie  in  Towards  Reunion. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  IO3 

assenting  to  any  basis  of  reunion."  These  representa- 
tive scholars  go  on  to  submit  for  consideration,  as 
what  seem  to  them  "  necessary  conditions  of  any  pos- 
sibiUty  of  reunion  "  that  "  continuity  with  the  his- 
toric Episcopate  should  be  efifectively  preserved " ; 
that  "  the  Episcopate  should  reassume  a  constitutional 
form  .  .  .  such  as  was  the  primitive  ideal  and  prac- 
tice "  and  such  as  it  has  "  in  many  Episcopal  Com- 
munions to-day  " ;  that  "  acceptance  of  the  fact  of 
Episcopacy,  and  not  any  theory  as  to  its  character 
should  be  all  that  is  asked  for,"  which,  they  hold 
"  may  be  the  more  easily  taken  for  granted  as  the  ac- 
ceptance of  any  such  theory  is  not  now  required  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England."  And  they 
add,  "  Within  such  a  recovered  unity  we  should  agree 
in  claiming  that  the  legitimate  freedom  of  prophetic 
ministry  should  be  carefully  preserved,  and  in  antici- 
pating that  many  customs  and  institutions  which  have 
been  developed  in  separate  communities  may  be  pre- 
served within  the  larger  unity  of  which  they  have  come 
to  form  a  part." 

The  whole  of  this  report,  which  may  be  found 
in  the  appendix  to  this  volume,  shows  striking  ad- 
vance towards  mutual  understanding  and  a  most  gen- 
erous spirit  and  earnest  desire  for  unity  on  the  part 
of  its  Free  Church  signers.  It  may  be  that  the  way  to 
reunion  would  be  made  easier  if  those  who  have  re- 
ceived their  orders  through  the  historic  Episcopate 


I04  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

should  on  their  part  express  wiUingness  to  receive  from 
the  authorities  of  the  Non-Episcopal  Communions  such 
added  and  special  authorization  as  they  might  desire 
to  give.  This  would  of  course  not  be  reordination. 
This  term  suggests  repudiation  of,  or  reflection  upon, 
the  Ministry  previously  exercised  and  it  should  there- 
fore not  be  used  on  either  side.  So  undoubted  an 
advocate  of  the  Catholic  viev;^  of  the  Ministry  as  the 
Bishop  of  Zanzibar  has  suggested  this  course.  In  pre- 
senting his  plan  for  the  union  of  the  Churches  in  East 
Africa  he  "  assured  the  Conference  that  if  the  Non- 
Episcopal  bodies  would  accept  some  such  proposals 
as  these,  and  consent  to  some  Episcopal  consecration 
and  ordination  so  as  to  enable  them  to  minister,  by 
invitation,  in  Episcopal  Churches,  he  for  his  part 
would  gladly  come  before  any  of  their  congregations 
and  accept  any  form  of  popular  recognition.  He 
could  not  move  from  his  own  position,  or  allow  doubt 
to  be  cast  upon  his  ministerial  authority  received  by 
ordination  and  consecration.  But  if  the  Church's 
forms  were  held  to  be  weak  on  the  side  of  popular 
recognition  he  would  not  refuse  whatever  the  other 
bodies  thought  to  be  necessary  to  make  his  ministry 
among  them  acceptable.  This  he  could  do  in  good 
faith,  since  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  desires  a 
United  Church,  knows  the  thoughts  and  motives  of 
our  hearts."  ^ 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  143, 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  IO5 

In  regard  to  worship  the  CathoHc  position  is  asso- 
ciated chiefly  with  the  use  of  Hturgical  forms,  classic 
in  themselves,  hallowed  by  use  and  association,  com- 
ing down,  some  of  them,  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
the  Christian  Church.  The  Protestant  position  is  as- 
sociated chiefly  with  nonliturgical  methods,  with  the 
free,  unprescribed  utterance  of  the  spirit  in  prayer 
and  worship.  But  as  urged  in  the  preceding  lecture, 
why  should  this  question  of  the  method  of  worship 
cause  separation,  or  division  among  us?  Neither  of 
these  methods  is  contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Each  has  its  value,  and  its  place.  Each  may 
well  be  used  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  The  differing 
views  as  to  forms  of  worship,  use  of  ritual  and,  far 
more  important,  as  to  the  place  and  nature  of  the 
Sacraments,  rest  back  upon  different  philosophies  of 
the  relation  between  matter  and  spirit.  Philosophy 
itself  seems  now  to  recognize  the  reality  of  both  mat- 
ter and  spirit,  that  spirit  is  the  underlying  reality  upon 
which  matter  depends,  and  that  matter  can  be,  and  is, 
the  medium  of  the  spiritual.  Those  who  hold  the 
Sacramental  principle,  however,  find  their  warrant  for 
it  not  in  any  human  philosophy,  but  in  the  Christian 
Gospel,  which  teaches  us  that  all  life  is  holy,  and  that 
the  body  also  is  to  have  its  place  in  the  redemption. 
This  principle  has  its  supreme  and  all  sufficient  exem- 
plification in  the  fact  of  the  Incarnation,  the  fact,  upon 
which  Christianity  wholly  rests,  that  God  Himself 


io6 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


was  manifested  to  us  in  human  form,  that  "  the 
Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us."  In 
this  fact  historic  Christianity  has  found  the  Divine 
authority  for  the  Sacramental  principle ;  for  the  Sacra- 
ments as  real  channels  of  the  Divine  and  spiritual; 
and  also  for  the  offering  of  true  spiritual  worship 
through  liturgy  and  ritual.  Although  liturgical  wor- 
ship has  its  own  acknowledged  dangers,  its  great  value 
and  importance  in  the  life  of  the  Church  are  clear. 
W  ith  striking  open-mindedness  the  authors  of  Path- 
ways to  Christian  Unity  say,  "  Christian  worship,  just 
because  it  is  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God  through 
His  complete  self-manifestation  in  our  Lord,  ought 
never  to  be  devoid  of,  nay  rather  should  always  be 
conspicuous  for,  the  reverence  with  which  it  is  ren- 
dered. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  this  matter 
the  average  Free  Church  service  of  public  worship  falls 
gravely  short  of  the  standard  set  by  Catholic  prac- 
tice .  .  .  our  Free  Church  worship  too  frequently 
lacks  in  reverence,  and  tends  to  substitute  other  things 
for  the  spirit  of  worship.  An  ornate  liturgical  service 
may  be,  and  doubtless  often  is.  irreverent,  and  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  a  drilled  reverence  which  is  not  wor- 
shipful. Xevertheless  it  is  undeniably  more  difficvdt 
to  dissociate  the  spirit  of  reverence  from  a  Catholic 
office,  or  from  the  Anglican  Liturg}-,  than  from  our 
Free  Church  Services."'  ^ 


1  Page  114. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  IO7 

As  that  true  soldier  of  the  Spirit,  Donald  Hankey, 
expressed  it :  "  We  must  be  quite  clear  about  the  object 
of  an  ordained  priesthood  and  a  uniform  ser\ace. 
The  English  Church  always  has  its  eye  on  the  future 
and  on  the  possibility  of  a  universal  Church.  Sup- 
posing such  a  Church  to  exist,  it  would  be  almost  es- 
sential that  Christians  should  be  able  in  every  part  of 
the  world  to  take  part  in  the  great  service  of  Catholic 
fellowship,  the  service  of  Holy  Communion.  It  is  a 
beautiful  idea  that  wherever  a  Christian  should  go  in 
all  the  world,  and  in  whatever  strange  language  his 
brothers  in  Christ  might  be  worshipping,  he  should 
always  be  able  to  follow  this  one  service,  and  find  it 
the  same  everywhere.  After  all.  Holy  Communion, 
enshrining  as  it  does  the  essence  of  our  faith,  is  the 
obvious  basis  of  unity.  And  there  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  as  we  all  come  to  understand  its 
meaning  more  fully  there  should  not  in  this  one  thing 
be  uniformity.  Therefore,  the  English  Church  has 
tried,  as  far  as  possible,  to  keep  to  the  old  form  of 
service  in  which,  from  very  ancient  times,  the  rite  of 
the  breaking  of  bread  and  the  drinking  of  the  cup 
has  been  set.  Besides  this,  the  set  form  of  service 
and  the  specially  ordained  ministry  are  a  certain  guar- 
antee that  the  meaning  and  beauty  of  the  service  will 
not  be  lost.  If  it  were  to  be  celebrated  anyhow,  and 
by  anybody,  there  would  be  grave  danger  that  false 
interpretations  might  creep  in,  and  important  features 


I08  THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 

allowed  to  drop  out.  In  this  matter  we  think  that  the 
Church  of  England  would  not  serve  the  cause  of  ulti- 
mate catholicity  by  sacrificing  what  seems  to  be  beauti- 
ful and  useful  for  the  sake  of  an  immediate  unity 
which  would  mean  the  impoverishment  of  the  future. 
Not  by  giving  up  what  is  beautiful  and  good  but  by 
including  more  of  what  is  beautiful  and  good,  will  the 
Church  of  England  substantiate  its  claim  to  be  Cath- 
olic." 1 

The  principle  that  the  outward  and  visible  has  its 
proper  place  in  religion,  as  in  all  life,  is  indeed  all  but 
universally  accepted.  But  it  must  equally  be  recog- 
nized that  as  to  the  particular  form  in  which  worship 
shall  be  offered,  and  as  to  the  use  of  ritual,  very  wide 
liberty  must  be  conceded.  Liturgical  forms  have 
great  value  but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  there 
is  no  place  in  public  worship  for  free  prayer.  Pre- 
cious as  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  to  Anglicans, 
noble  as  it  is,  both  in  spirit  and  in  utterance,  it  is  not 
the  only,  nor  the  final,  word  in  worship.  It  does  not 
meet  and  cover  all  the  spiritual  needs  of  men  of  all 
kinds,  on  all  occasions,  and  under  all  conditions.  The 
time  has  come  for  the  Anglican  Church  to  become  less 
rigid,  far  more  truly  Catholic,  in  her  system  of  wor- 
ship. Without  losing  the  dignity  and  order  of  her 
stated  services  she  must  not  only  allow,  she  must  en- 
courage greater  variety  and  freedom  of  devotion.  If 

1  The  Lord  of  All  Good  Life,  pp.  124,  125. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  ICQ 

precedent  be  required  for  this  it  can  be  found  amply 
in  the  great  variety  of  ritual,  and  service  books,  in 
earlier  days  in  the  Church  of  England.  Catholicism 
emphasizes  the  sacramental  idea  of  worship;  Protes- 
tantism emphasizes  the  inspirational  idea  of  worship. 
The  thing  needed  for  the  life  of  the  Church  is  that 
each  of  these  ideas  shall  have  its  place  and  expression. 
And  yet  this  question  of  the  method  of  worship  has 
occasioned  division  in  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  Chris- 
tians are  to-day,  more  divided  in  feeling  by  it  than 
might  be  supposed. 

The  trouble  is  that  these  different  types  of  worship 
have  in  the  main,  dwelt  apart  from  each  other,  in  sep- 
arated denominations.  It  is  this  fact  which  makes 
Christian  people  critical  and  suspicious  of  the  method 
with  which  they  are  not  familiar.  If  each  method  had 
place,  and  use,  within  the  one  Church  the  feeling  that 
they  are  opposed  one  to  another  would  largely  dis- 
appear. In  the  United  Church  the  principle  must  be 
not  to  repress  but  to  combine  and  develop  every 
variety  of  religious  expression  which  is  in  accord  with 
the  Faith  of  Christ.  It  is  this  principle  which  the 
Anglican  Church  is  now  called  upon  more  fully  to  ex- 
emplify. 

With  regard  to  the  Sacraments,  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants will  find  their  common  ground  by  emphasis 
upon  the  fact  that  the  primary  thing  in  these  ordi- 
nances is  not  what  we  do,  or  feel,  but  what  Christ 


no 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


does,  and  gives  us,  in  and  through  them.  A  right 
view  of  the  Sacraments  must  depend  upon,  and  have 
as  its  foundation,  a  full  faith  in  the  living  Christ. 
For  all  Christians,  Catholics  and  Protestants,  the  es- 
sential, all  important  fact  is  that  Christianity  is  the 
living  Christ  Himself,  showing  us  the  truth,  giving 
us  grace  and  life  from  above,  and  doing  this  normally, 
and  certainly,  though  we  may  not  say  exclusively, 
through  the  Church  and  the  Sacraments,  which  He 
Himself  instituted.  Christ  is  infinitely  greater  than 
any  of  our  thoughts  and  feelings  about  Him.  This 
is  the  foundation  fact.  This  is  the  rock  on  which  the 
whole  life  of  the  Church  rests.  Standing  together  in 
this  faith  we  may  gladly  allow  each  other  wide  di- 
versity of  apprehension,  and  interpretation.  In  the 
words  of  one  whom  his  pupils,  and  many  others, 
think  of  as  the  most  profound  and  illuminating  of 
modern  teachers  of  Christian  truth,  the  late  Dr.  Du- 
Bose,  "  What  we  need  in  our  Christianity  is  to  take 
God  at  His  Word,  to  believe  that  what  He  says 
lo  us  Christ  is.  It  is  as  much  a  part  of  Christianity 
to  know  that  Christ  is  in  His  Church,  as  it  is  to  know 
that  God  is  in  Christ.  If  we  truly  beheved  that  the 
Church  is  Christ's  Body,  the  actual  and  sole  organ  and 
instrument  of  His  life  and  work  upon  earth;  if  we 
truly  knew  that  we  are  members  of  His  body,  par- 
takers of  His  life,  and  doers  of  all  that  He  is  in  the 
world  to  do;  if  Baptism  were  to  our  faith  the  death 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  III 

and  life  of  Christ,  and  the  Bread  and  Wine  were  His 
Body  and  Blood,  instead  of  only  signs  of  something 
not  there,  how  would  the  Gospel  begin  to  manifest  it- 
self as  that  which  in  itself  it  is  —  as  that  which  but 
for  us  it  would  be  —  the  Power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion, because  a  Righteousness  of  God  in  us  through 
Faith.  With  all  our  mutual  understandings  and 
agreements,  there  will  always  be  certain  differences 
among  us,  because  of  certain  inevitable  liabilities  and 
dangers  equally  to  be  found  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
above  truth  of  the  Church.  Some  will  always  be 
thinking  that  others  are  making  too  much  of  the  out- 
ward and  visible  for  the  proper  emphasis  and  opera- 
tion of  the  inward  and  spiritual.  The  others  will  be 
equally  sure  that  these  are  making  too  much  of  their 
own  subjective  states  and  selves,  and  denying,  or  ig- 
noring, the  objective  divine  presence  and  grace  upon 
which  the  internal  state  is  and  ought  to  be  directly 
conditioned.  Are  not  these  two  opposite  attitudes 
both  necessary  and  wholesome  offsets,  and  does  not 
the  truth  and  life  of  Christianity  depend  upon  its  abil- 
ity to  meet,  and  compose  such  differences  ?  "  ^ 

The  crucial  question  in  regard  to  unity  is  common 
participation  in  the  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Body  and 
Blood.    The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  Sacrament  of  unity. 

^ "  A  Constructive  Treatment  of  Christianity,"  by  William 
Porcher  DuBose,  The  Constructive  Quarterly,  March,  1913, 
p.  21. 


112 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


It  is  the  center  of  the  Church's  life  and  worship,  the 
outward  sign,  and  the  means,  of  our  fellowship  with 
Christ,  and  with  one  another  in  Him.  There  can  be 
no  true  realization  of  unity  until  those  who  are  one  in 
Christ  can  express  their  fellowship  outwardly  and  vis- 
ibly in  the  ordinance  of  His  own  appointment.  It  is 
for  this  above  all  things  that  we  long  and  pray,  for 
nothing  less  than  this  will  restore  the  broken  unity 
of  Christ's  Church.  It  is  here  that  the  fellowship  of 
Christians  must  be  visibly  manifested. 

Dr.  Newman  Smyth  truly  says :  "  While  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  the  very  center  and  hearth  of  the  whole 
household  of  faith,  around  it  have  gathered  the  most 
irreconcilable  differences  of  the  Churches.  Reunion 
therefore  must  go  to  the  very  core  of  the  disunion. 
So  long  as  non-communion  between  Churches  is  vis- 
ible, real  unity  is  invisible.  And  belief  in  the  one- 
ness of  the  invisible  Church  does  not  atone  for  the 
sinful  estate  of  visible  disunity.  Agreements  to  work 
together  outside  the  churches  leave  Christ  to  be  found 
walking  the  streets  among  men,  but  not  seen  in  the 
midst  of  His  own  disciples.  External  federation  in 
working  together,  however  desirable,  may  hide,  but 
does  not  atone  for,  not  living  together  in  the  one  fam- 
ily and  Church  of  God.  The  visibility  of  the  real 
home  life, —  not  of  co-workers  only  in  the  same  field 
—  that  is  the  real  unity  of  the  Church."  ^ 

^Approaches  Towards  Church  Unity,  p.  56. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  II3 

But  between  those  who  hold  the  Protestant  position 
and  those  who  hold  the  Catholic  position  there  are 
important  differences  of  belief  as  to  the  meaning  of  this 
Sacrament.  Is  it  possible  for  those  who  by  tempera- 
ment and  conviction  hold  one  of  these  positions  to 
kneel  at  the  Lord's  Supper  in  fellowship  of  faith,  in 
unity  of  mind  and  spirit  with  those  who  by  tempera- 
ment and  conviction  hold  the  other  position?  In 
spite  of  their  deep  differences  of  apprehension  have 
those  who  hold  the  Protestant  and  Catholic  beliefs 
enough  in  common  to  justify  them  in  coming  together 
in  this  Sacrament  to  meet  their  common  Lord  ?  Here 
we  must  tread  reverently  for  the  place  on  which  we 
stand  is  holy  ground.  Because  this  is  the  holy  of 
holies,  the  very  sanctuary  of  the  Church's  life,  there 
must  here  be  no  undue  haste.  Common  participation 
in  this  Sacrament  is  the  achievement  of  unity,  its 
realization  and  full  manifestation  to  the  world.  This 
is  the  prize  for  which  we  are  striving.  And  because 
it  is  the  prize  we  must  not  claim  it,  until  it  has  been 
won.  This  does  not  say  that  baptized  Christians  of 
other  Commimions  may  never  be  permitted  under  ex- 
isting conditions  to  receive  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  at  an  Anglican  Altar.  Few  would  be 
found  to  maintain  this  position  in  practice.  But  inter- 
communion between  the  divided  Churches  must  wait 
until  the  way  is  prepared  and  ready  for  it.  Inter- 
communion is  the  end  and  climax  of  our  progress  to- 


114 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


wards  unity,  not  its  beginning.  Writing  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  Congregationalist,  Dr.  Raymond 
Calkins  says :  "  A  common  communion,  before  we 
have  acquired  the  spirit  of  union  or  the  spiritual  per- 
ception of  the  total  truth  which  makes  us  one,  can 
hardly  hasten,  but  may  seriously  retard  our  progress."  ^ 

As  to  the  question,  however,  whether  Protestants 
and  Catholics  can  find  the  way  to  common  participation 
in  this  Sacrament  is  not  the  answer  suggested  by  the 
actual  situation  which  we  have  in  the  Anglican  Church? 
Within  her  fold  both  the  Protestant  belief  and  the 
Catholic  belief  are  in  large  degree  represented  and 
held.  Yet  all  approach  the  Altar  in  simple  dependence 
upon  Christ's  word.  All  are  able  to  use  the  great, 
but  sober  words  of  the  Prayer  Book  Office.  All  be- 
lieve that  in  this  Sacrament  grace  is  given,  and  that 
faith  is  necessary  for  its  right  reception.  All  believe 
that  there  the  Bread  which  cometh  down  from  Heaven 
is  received.  All  hold  that  there  the  one  Sacrifice  once 
for  all  offered  on  Calvary  is  kept  in  remembrance  and 
shown  forth  before  God  and  men.  All  believe  that 
there  they  are  in  the  presence  of  the  living  Christ. 
Why  shall  not  the  way  be  found  for  Christians  of  all 
names  to  come  together  to  this  Sacrament  in  like 
unity  of  simple  faith? 

In  order  that  the  Church  may  be  reunited  we  must 
have  Catholicism  larger,  nobler,  truer  than  any  that 

^Approaches  Towards  Church  Unity,  p.  82. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN"  COMMUNION  II5 

has  yet  been  attained;  a  Catholicism  larger,  not  be- 
cause it  has  cut  loose  from  the  Gospel,  but  because  it 
has  entered  more  deeply  into  the  Gospel ;  a  Catholicism 
which  is  in  vital  organic  relation  with  the  past,  but 
which  includes  also  the  spiritual  contributions  of  this 
age,  and  of  every  age  since  the  first  days.  Those 
who  are  most  concerned  for  the  integrity  of  the  Faith 
should  most  welcome  such  comprehension.  It  is  in 
such  an  atmosphere  that  the  Truth  will  flourish  and 
find  fullest  expression.  We  must  have  no  faithless 
fear  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  His  Church.  In  the 
atmosphere  of  brotherliness,  mutual  sympathy,  and 
freedom  we  need  not  fear  that  truth  will  suffer.  The 
Catholicism  which  we  now  need  must  be  loyal  to  the 
Faith  once  for  all  revealed,  but  it  must  believe  also  in 
progress  as  the  very  condition  of  its  life,  it  must  re- 
joice in  the  new  as  well  as  in  the  old;  it  must  have 
care  for,  and  sympathy  with,  all  that  can  bring  strength 
and  cheer  to  the  lives  of  men.  It  must  not  look 
backward  to  a  golden  age  in  the  past  but  must  bring 
all  the  treasures  of  the  past  to  the  service  of  the  pres- 
ent and  the  future.  It  must  be  at  once  conservative 
and  progressive,  careful  to  preserve  the  true  founda- 
tions of  spiritual  hfe,  and  eager  to  build  boldly  and 
nobly  upon  them.  Those  who  catch  its  spirit  must 
have  about  them  the  air,  not  of  repression  and  sub- 
jection, but  of  freedom  and  adventure,  as  those  who, 
living  in  the  Father's  household,  enjoy  the  glorious 


ii6 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  Our  lives  in  the 
Church  are  not  to  be  timid,  and  cautious,  and  con- 
strained but  brave  and  enterprising  and  free  for  "  God 
hath  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power,  and 
of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind."  ^ 

We  must  keep  in  mind  the  variety  and  freedom,  the 
life  and  vigor,  the  startling  innovations,  the  fearless 
grappling  with  new  situations  as  well  as  the  whole- 
hearted loyalty  and  faith  in  Christ  which  we  see  in 
the  picture  of  the  Church  shown  to  us  in  St.  Paul's 
Epistles. 

We  do  grave  wrong  to  Jesus  Christ  if  we  allow  our- 
selves to  think  of,  or  to  present.  His  religion  as  a 
backward  looking  religion.  The  cry  "  Back  to 
Christ  "  contains  truth,  but  it  is  only  a  part  of  the 
truth.  Our  watchword  must  be  not  merely  "  Back 
to  Christ "  but  "  Forward  with  Christ,  and  into 
Christ." 

And  to  the  Anglican  Communion  is  given  an  oppor- 
timity  without  parallel  to  show  what  the  full  life  of 
the  Catholic  Church  may  be. 

Alore  than  ever  before  we  who  are  of  her  fold  are 
called  to  show  that  the  essential  principles  to  which 
Protestantism  bears  witness,  and  the  essential  princi- 
ples to  which  Catholicism  bears  witness  can  dwell  to- 
gether in  the  one  Church  of  Christ.  We  must  do  now 
fully  and  gladly  that  which  we  have  been  doing  half 

1 II  Tim.  i,  7. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  11/ 

unwillingly  and  half  fearfully.  We  must  cultivate  far 
more  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  unity  and  mutual  con- 
fidence in  our  own  household.  We  must  cease  think- 
ing of  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  elements  within  our 
Communion  as  in  essential  conflict,  as  though  one  of 
these  is  to  overthrow  and  drive  out  the  other. 

We  must  recognize  that  each  of  these  positions  is 
seeking  to  express  truth  native  to  the  Gospel,  that  each 
corresponds  with  deep  facts  in  human  life,  that  each 
is  needed  for  the  fullness  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Such  an  ideal  makes  great  demands  upon  us.  It 
calls  for  largeness  of  mind  and  heart  in  both  clergy 
and  people.  It  requires  us  indeed  to  "  think  magnif- 
icently." It  means  that  the  Anglican  Church  must  be 
far  more  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  love  and  fellow- 
ship than  it  has  ever  yet  been,  but  this  is  exactly  what 
is  now  needed,  if  the  Anglican  Church  and  the  Church 
as  a  whole  is  to  be  the  eflfective  organ  of  Christ's  power 
and  presence  in  the  world.  Patience  and  forbearance 
and  open-mindedness  are  not  virtues  easy  to  combine 
with  deep  conviction.  But  these  are  the  fruits  which 
the  discipline  of  our  common  life  in  the  Church,  the 
family  of  Christ,  is  intended  to  produce  in  us.  As  one 
especially  qualified  to  speak  on  this  subject  points  out, 
the  trouble  has  been  not  that  the  Anglican  Church  in- 
cluded both  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  principles,  but 
that  she  did  not  carry  out  this  principle  far  enough. 
"  She  followed  each  too  feebly  and  inconsistently  to  get 


ii8 


THE  CALL  TO  UNITY 


its  best  out  of  it  and  yet  sufficiently  for  to  prevent  her 
getting  the  best  out  of  its  fellow."  ^ 

If  the  Anglican  Church  will  now  follow  out  to  their 
full  implications  the  principles  embodied  in  her  formu- 
laries she  may  play  a  great  part  in  the  reunion  of 
Christendom.  Approach  towards  Rome  at  this  time 
is  not  possible.  But  reunion  between  the  Anglican 
and  the  Eastern  Churches  seems  to  be  near  at  hand. 
And  there  is  to-day  in  the  Protestant  Churches  an 
eager,  almost  passionate,  desire  for  unity.  If  Angli- 
can, Eastern  and  Protestant  Christianity,  or  a  large 
part  of  it,  could  be  brought  together  on  a  basis  of  true 
Christian  liberty,  with  loyalty  to  essential  Catholic  prin- 
ciple, this  should  in  no  way  hinder  reunion  with  the  Ro- 
man Church,  but  on  the  contrary  should  greatly  increase 
its  likelihood.  It  seems  probable  that  there  will  have  to 
be  such  developments  before  Rome  will  seriously  con- 
sider reunion.  And  there  rests  upon  the  Anglican 
Church  a  special  obligation  to  strive  for  religious  unity 
in  the  English-speaking  world.  The  great  Protestant 
Communions  are,  many  of  them,  her  own  kith  and  kin. 
She  is  bound  to  them  by  ties  of  history,  of  language, 
and  of  blood.  Some  of  them  went  out  from  her  spirit- 
ual household,  in  part  through  her  own  fault  and  short- 
coming. Unity,  like  charity,  may  well  begin  at  home. 
As  the  ancient  Church  of  the  English  race,  identified 

1  The  Church  and  Religious  Unity,  by  the  Revd.  Herbert 
Kelly,  p.  307. 


THE  CALL  TO  THE  ANGLICAN  COMMUNION  HQ 

with  all  its  past,  what  wonder  if  God  is  calling  us  first 
to  seek  reconciliation  with  those  who  share  with  us  a 
common  heritage,  and  who  read  the  Bible  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue.  The  English-speaking  peoples  are  ap- 
pointed to  a  great  common  mission.  They  are  called 
to  stand  and  strive  together,  not  for  any  selfish  aims 
or  ambitions,  but  for  the  good  of  all  mankind.  So 
far  as  human  judgment  can  see,  the  peace  and  hope 
of  the  world  depend  upon  their  close  unity  and  fel- 
lowship. What  greater  thing  could  now  be  accom- 
plished as  a  step  towards  unity  than  the  drawing  into 
fellowship  of  all  English-speaking  Christians?  What 
greater  service  could  the  Anglican  Church  render  than 
to  lend  her  full  strength  to  this  task?  If  the  English- 
speaking  Christians  of  the  world,  with  the  exception, 
unavoidable  for  the  present,  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
should  become  united  this  would,  of  itself,  open  the 
door  to  a  new  coming  among  us  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
it  would  be  an  immeasurable  advance  towards  that 
unity  of  the  whole  Christian  Church  for  which  we 
must  pray  and  labor  without  ceasing. 


APPENDIX 


1.  The  Lambeth  Quadrilateral. 

2.  Action  of  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  initiating  the  movement  for  a  World 
Conference  on  Faith  and  Order. 

3.  Second  Interim  Report  in  connection  with  the  proposed 
World  Conference  on  Faith  and  Order. 

4.  The  Bishop  of  London's  Proposals  for  Reunion  be- 
tween the  Church  of  England  and  the  Wesleyan  Metho- 
dist Church. 

5.  The  Bishop  of  Zanzibar's  Proposals  for  Reunion  in  East 
Africa. 

6.  The  Concordat.  Proposals  for  an  Approach  towards 
Unity  prepared  by  members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  and  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  the  United 
States. 

7.  Plan  of  Union  adopted  by  the  American  Council  on 
Organic  Union  of  Churches  of  Christ.  Philadelphia, 
1920. 

8.  The  Lambeth  Declaration  on  the  Reunion  of  Christen- 
dom.   An  Appeal  to  all  Christian  People. 


THE  LAMBETH  QUADRILATERAL 


I 

The  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as 
"  containing  all  things  necessary  to  salvation,"  and  as  be- 
ing the  rule  and  ultimate  standard  of  Faith. 

II 

The  Apostles'  Creed,  as  the  Baptismal  Symbol ;  and  the 
Nicene  Creed,  as  the  sufficient  statement  of  the  Christian 
Faith. 

Ill 

The  two  Sacraments  ordained  by  Christ  Himself, — 
Baptism  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord, —  ministered  with  un- 
failing use  of  Christ's  words  of  institution,  and  of  the  ele- 
ments ordained  by  Him. 

IV 

The  Historic  Episcopate,  locally  adapted  in  the  methods  of 
its  administration  to  the  varying  needs  of  the  nations  and 
peoples  called  of  God  into  the  unity  of  His  Church. 


ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  THE 
PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  INITIAT- 
ING THE  MOVEMENT  FOR  A  WORLD  CONFER- 
ENCE ON  FAITH  AND  ORDER 

Document  No.  I  Published  by  the  Joint  Commission 

At  the  General  Convention  of  1910  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  held  in 
Cincinnati,  the  following  report  was  presented  to  the  House 
of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  on  October  19,  1910: 

The  Joint  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  following 
resolution  offered  in  the  House  of  Deputies  by  the  Rev. 
W.  T.  Manning,  D.D.,  of  New  York: 

Resolved,  The  House  of  Bishops  concurring.  That  a  Joint 
Committee,  consisting  of  seven  Bishops,  seven  Presbyters  and 
seven  Laymen,  be  appointed  to  take  under  advisement  the  pro- 
motion by  this  Church  of  a  Conference  following  the  general 
method  of  the  World  Missionary  Conference,  to  be  participated 
in  by  representatives  of  all  Christian  bodies  throughout  the 
world  which  accept  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God  and  Saviour, 
for  the  consideration  of  questions  pertaining  to  the  Faith  and 
Order  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  said  Committee,  if  it 
deem  such  a  Conference  feasible,  shall  report  to  this  Conven- 
tion; 

have  considered  the  same,  and  submit  the  following  report, 
and  recommend  the  immediate  consideration  and  passage  of 
the  resolution  appended  to  the  report. 

"Your  Committee  is  of  one  mind.  We  believe  that  the 
time  has  now  arrived  when  representatives  of  the  whole  fam- 
ily of  Christ,  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  may  be  willing  to  come 

124 


APPENDIX 


together  for  the  consideration  of  questions  of  Faith  and  Or- 
der. We  beHeve,  further,  that  all  Christian  Communions 
are  in  accord  with  us  in  our  desire  to  lay  aside  self-will,  and 
to  put  on  the  mind  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  We 
would  heed  this  call  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  lowliness, 
and  with  singleness  of  purpose.  We  would  place  ourselves 
by  the  side  of  our  fellow  Christians,  looking  not  only  on 
our  own  things,  but  also  on  the  things  of  others,  convinced 
that  our  one  hope  of  mutual  understanding  is  in  taking  per- 
sonal counsel  together  in  the  spirit  of  love  and  forbearance. 
It  is  our  conviction  that  such  a  Conference  for  the  purpose 
of  study  and  discussion,  without  power  to  legislate  or  to 
adopt  resolutions,  is  the  next  step  toward  unity. 

"  With  grief  for  our  aloofness  in  the  past,  and  for  other 
faults  of  pride  and  self-sufficiency,  which  make  for  schism; 
with  loyalty  to  the  truth  as  we  see  it,  and  with  respect  for 
the  convictions  of  those  who  differ  from  us ;  holding  the  be- 
lief that  the  beginnings  of  unity  are  to  be  found  in  the  clear 
statement  and  full  consideration  of  those  things  in  which 
we  differ,  as  well  as  of  those  things  in  which  we  are  at  one, 
we  respectfully  submit  the  following  resolution : 

Whereas,  There  is  to-day  among  all  Christian  people  a 
growing  desire  for  the  fulfillment  of  Our  Lord's  prayer  that 
all  His  disciples  may  be  one;  that  the  world  may  believe  that 
God  has  sent  Him: 

Resolved,  The  House  of  Bishops  concurring,  That  a  Joint 
Commission  be  appointed  to  bring  about  a  Conference  for  the 
consideration  of  questions  touching  Faith  and  Order,  and  that 
all  Christian  Communions  throughout  the  world  which  confess 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God  and  Saviour  be  asked  to  unite 
with  us  in  arranging  for  and  conducting  such  a  Conference. 
The  Commission  shall  consist  of  seven  Bishops,  appointed  by 
the  Chairman  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  seven  Presbyters 
and  seven  Laymen,  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  House  of 
Deputies,  and  shall  have  power  to  add  to  its  number  and  to  fill 
any  vacancies  occurring  before  the  next  General  Convention: 


126 


APPENDIX 


George  W.  Peterkin 
Boyd  Vincent 
Thomas  F.  Gailor 
William  Lawrence 
Charles  P.  Anderson 
Reginald  H.  Weller 
Charles  H.  Brent 
William  T.  Manning 
Alexander  Mann 
Beveri-y  E.  Warner 
John  E.  Sulger 


Charles  N.  Lathrop 
William  M.  Clark 
B.  Talbot  Rogers 
Robert  H.  Gardiner 
George  Wharton  Pepper 
Burton  Mansfield 
Edward  P.  Bailey 
Francis  L.  Stetson 
H.  D.  W.  English 
W.  A.  Robinson 


Joint  Committee.' 


On  October  19,  1910,  the  above  resolution  was  adopted 
unanimously  by  both  the  House  of  Bishops  and  the  House  of 
Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies,  and  the  Joint  Commission  ap- 
pointed. 

The  members  of  the  Commission  are : 

President:  Rt.  Rev.  Charles  P.  Anderson,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
Chicago,  1612  Prairie  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Chairman  of  Executive  Committee :  Rev.  William  T.  Man- 
ning, D.D.,  27  West  251;h  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Treasurer:  George  Zabriskie,  D.C.L.,  49  Wall  Street,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Secretary:  Robert  H.  Gardiner,  Gardiner,  Maine. 

Rt.  Rev.  Boyd  Vincent,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Southern  Ohio,  223 

West  7th  Street,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Gailor,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Tennessee,  346 

Poplar  Street,  Memphis,  Tennessee. 
Rt.  Rev.  A.  C.  A.  Hall,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Vermont,  Burlington, 

Vermont. 

Rt.  Rev.  C.  B.  Brewster,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. 

Rt.  Rev.  R.  H.  Weller,  D.D.,  Bishop  Coadjutor  of  Fond  du 
Lac,  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin. 

Rt.  Rev.  C.  H.  Brent,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Philippine  Islands, 
253  Calle  Nozaleda,  Manila,  Philippine  Islands. 

Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  New  York,  Gramercy 
Park,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Rt.  Rev.  P.  M.  Rhinelander,  Bishop  Coadjutor  of  Pennsylvania, 
I2th  and  Walnut  Streets,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


APPENDIX 


Rev.  Alexander  Mann,  D.D., 

233  Clarendon  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Rev.  Francis  J.  Hall,  D.D., 

2731  Park  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
Rev.  B.  Talbot  Rogers,  D.D., 

Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin. 
Rev.  William  M.  Clark,  D.D., 

1008  Park  Avenue,  Richmond,  Virginia. 
Rev.  Edward  L.  Parsons, 

2532  Durant  Avenue,  Berkeley,  California. 
Rev.  Henry  S.  Nash,  D.D., 

Phillips  Place,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
Rev.  A.  G.  Mortimer,  D.D., 

1625  Locust  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Seth  Low,  LL.D., 

30  East  64th  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  LL.D., 

23  Wall  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
George  Wharton  Pepper,  LL.D., 

Land  Title  and  Trust  Building,  Philadelphia,  ] 
Samuel  Mather, 

Western  Reserve  Building,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Francis  Lynde  Stetson, 

15  Broad  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Edward  P.  Bailey, 

2400  South  Park  Avenue,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
George  Zabriskie,  D.C.L., 

49  Wall  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Robert  H.  Gardiner, 

Gardiner,  Maine. 


SECOND  INTERIM  REPORT 


of  a  Sub-Committee  appointed  by  the  Archbishops  of  Canter- 
bury and  York's  Committee  and  by  Representatives  of 
the  English  Free  Churches'  Commissions,  in  connection 
with  the  proposed  World  Conference  on  Faith  and 
Order. 

A  Movement  has  been  initiated  in  America  by  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church,  which  has  been  widely  taken  up  by 
the  Christian  Churches  in  the  United  States,  to  prepare  for 
a  world-wide  conference  on  Faith  and  Order  with  the  view 
of  promoting  the  visible  unity  of  the  Body  of  Christ  on  earth. 
In  response  to  an  appeal  from  those  who  are  cooperating  in 
America  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  and  commissions  by  the  Free  Churches 
to  promote  the  same  Movement  in  England. 

This  Joint  Conference  has  already  issued  a  First  In- 
terim Report  prepared  by  a  Joint  Sub-Committee,  consisting 
of:  —  (i)  A  Statement  of  agreement  on  matters  of  Faith; 

(2)  A  Statement  of  agreement  on  matters  relating  to  Order; 

(3)  A  Statement  of  differences  in  relation  to  matters  of 
Order  which  require  further  study  and  discussion. 

In  further  pursuit  of  the  main  purpose  the  Sub-Committee 
was  re-appointed  and  enlarged.  After  mature  and  prolonged 
consideration  it  is  hereby  issuing  its  Second  Interim  Report 
under  the  direction  of  the  Conference  as  a  whole,  but  on 
the  understanding  that  the  members  of  the  Sub-committee 
alone  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  substance  of  the 
document. 

In  issuing  our  Second  Interim  Report  we  desire  to  prevent 
possible  misconceptions  regarding  our  intentions.    We  are 

128 


APPENDIX 


129 


engaged,  not  in  formulating  any  basis  of  reunion  for 
Christendom,  but  in  preparing  for  the  consideration  of  such 
a  basis  at  the  projected  Conference  on  Faith  and  Order. 
We  are  exploring  the  ground  in  order  to  discover  the  ways 
of  approach  to  the  questions  to  be  considered  that  seem  most 
promising  and  hopeful.  In  our  first  Report  we  were  not  at- 
tempting to  draw  up  a  creed  for  subscription,  but  desired  to 
affirm  our  agreement  upon  certain  foundation  truths  as  the 
basis  of  a  spiritual  and  rational  creed  and  life  for  all  man- 
kind in  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  It  was  a  matter  of  profound 
gratitude  to  God  that  we  found  ourselves  so  far  in  agree- 
ment. No  less  grateful  were  we  that  even  as  regards  mat- 
ters relating  to  Order  we  were  able  to  hold  certain  common 
convictions,  though  in  regard  to  these  we  were  forced  to 
recognize  differences  of  interpretation.  We  felt  deeply,  how- 
ever, that  we  could  not  let  the  matter  rest  there ;  but  that  we 
must  in  conference  seek  to  understand  one  another  better, 
in  order  to  discover  if  even  on  the  questions  on  which  we 
seemed  to  differ  most  we  might  not  come  nearer  to  one  an- 
other. 

I.  In  all  our  discussions  we  were  guided  by  two  convic- 
tions from  which  we  could  not  escape,  and  would  not,  even 
if  we  could. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  our  Lord  that  believers  in  Him  should 
be  one  visible  society,  and  this  unity  is  essential  to  the  pur- 
pose of  Christ  for  His  Church  and  for  its  effective  witness 
and  work  in  the  world.  The  conflict  among  Christian  na- 
tions has  brought  home  to  us  with  a  greater  poignancy  the 
disastrous  results  of  the  divisions  which  prevail  among 
Christians,  inasmuch  as  they  have  hindered  that  growth  of 
mutual  understanding  which  it  should  be  the  function  of  the 
Church  to  foster,  and  because  a  Church  which  is  itself  di- 
vided cannot  speak  effectively  to  a  divided  world. 

The  visible  unity  of  believers  which  answers  to  our  Lord's 
purpose  must  have  its  source  and  sanction,  not  in  any  human 


I30 


APPENDIX 


arrangements,  but  in  the  will  of  the  One  Father,  manifested 
in  the  Son,  and  effected  through  the  operation  of  the  Spirit; 
and  it  must  express  and  maintain  the  fellowship  of  His 
people  with  one  another  in  Him.  Thus  the  visible  unity  of 
the  Body  of  Christ  is  not  adequately  expressed  in  the  co- 
operation of  the  Christian  Churches  for  moral  influence  and 
social  service,  though  such  cooperation  might  with  great 
advantage  be  carried  much  further  than  it  is  at  present;  it 
could  only  be  fully  realized  through  community  of  worship, 
faith  and  order,  including  common  participation  in  the  Lord's 
Supper.  This  would  be  quite  compatible  with  a  rich  diversity 
in  life  and  worship. 

2.  In  suggesting  the  conditions  under  which  this  visible 
unity  might  be  realized  we  desire  to  set  aside  for  the  present 
the  abstract  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the  Episcopate  his- 
torically, or  its  authority  doctrinally;  and  to  secure  for  that 
discussion  when  it  comes,  as  it  must  come,  at  the  Confer- 
ence, an  atmosphere  congenial  not  to  controversy,  but  to 
agreement.  This  can  be  done  only  by  facing  the  actual  situa- 
tion in  order  to  discover  if  any  practical  proposals  could  be 
made  that  would  bring  the  Episcopal  and  Non-Episcopal 
Communions  nearer  to  one  another.  Further,  the  proposals 
are  offered  not  as  a  basis  for  immediate  action,  but  for  the 
sympathetic  and  generous  consideration  of  all  the  Churches. 

The  first  fact  which  we  agree  to  acknowledge  is  that  the 
position  of  Episcopacy  in  the  greater  part  of  Christendom  as 
the  recognized  organ  of  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the 
Church  is  such  that  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  Churches 
ought  not  to  be  expected  to  abandon  it  in  assenting  to  any 
basis  of  reunion. 

The  second  fact  which  we  agree  to  acknowledge  is  that 
there  are  a  number  of  Christian  Churches  not  accepting  the 
Episcopal  order  which  have  been  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  His  work  of  enlightening  the  world,  converting  sinners, 


APPENDIX 


and  perfecting  saints.  They  came  into  being  through  re- 
action from  grave  abuses  in  the  Church  at  the  time  of  their 
origin,  and  were  led  in  response  to  fresh  apprehensions  of 
divine  truth  to  give  expression  to  certain  types  of  Christian 
experience,  aspiration  and  fellowship,  and  to  secure  rights 
of  the  Christian  people  which  had  been  neglected  or 
denied. 

In  view  of  these  two  facts,  if  the  visible  unity  so  much 
desired  within  the  Church  and  so  necessary  for  the  testimony 
and  influence  of  the  Church  in  the  world  is  ever  to  be  real- 
ized, it  is  imperative  that  the  Episcopal  arid  Non-Episcopal 
Communions  shall  approach  one  another  not  by  the  method 
of  human  compromise,  but  in  correspondence  with  God's 
own  way  of  reconciling  differences  in  Christ  Jesus.  What 
we  desire  to  see  is  not  grudging  concession,  but  a  willing 
acceptance  for  the  common  enrichment  of  the  united  Church 
of  the  wealth  distinctive  of  each. 

Looking  as  frankly  and  as  widely  as  possible  at  the  whole 
situation,  we  desire  with  a  due  sense  of  responsibility  to  sub- 
mit for  the  serious  consideration  of  all  the  parts  of  a  divided 
Christendom  what  seem  to  us  the  necessary  conditions  of 
any  possibility  of  reunion: 

1.  That  continuity  with  the  historic  Episcopate  should  be 
effectively  preserved. 

2.  That  in  order  that  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of 
the  whole  Christian  community  in  the  government  of  the 
Church  may  be  adequately  recognized,  the  Episcopate  should 
re-assume  a  constitutional  form,  both  as  regards  the  method 
of  the  election  of  the  bishop  as  by  clergy  and  people,  and 
the  method  of  government  after  election.  It  is  perhaps 
necessary  that  we  should  call  to  mind  that  such  was  the 
primitive  ideal  and  practice  of  Episcopacy  and  it  so  remains 
in  many  Episcopal  communions  to-day. 

3.  That  acceptance  of  the  fact  of  Episcopacy  and  not  any 


132 


APPENDIX 


theory  as  to  its  character  should  be  all  that  is  asked  for. 
We  think  that  this  may  be  the  more  easily  taken  for  granted 
as  the  acceptance  of  any  such  theory  is  not  now  required 
of  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  would  no  doubt 
be  necessary  before  any  arrangement  for  corporate  reunion 
could  be  made  to  discuss  the  exact  functions  which  it  may  be 
agreed  to  recognize  as  belonging  to  the  Episcopate,  but  we 
think  this  can  be  left  to  the  future. 

The  acceptance  of  Episcopacy  on  these  terms  should  not 
involve  any  Christian  community  in  the  necessity  of  dis- 
owning its  past,  but  should  enable  all  to  maintain  the  con- 
tinuity of  their  witness  and  influence  as  heirs  and  trustees 
of  types  of  Christian  thought,  life  and  order,  not  only  of 
value  to  themselves  but  of  value  to  the  Church  as  a  whole. 
Accordingly  we  hope  and  desire  that  each  of  these  Com- 
munions would  bring  its  own  distinctive  contribution,  not 
only  to  the  common  life  of  the  Church,  but  also  to  its  meth- 
ods of  organization,  and  that  all  that  is  true  in  the  experience 
and  testimony  of  the  uniting  Communions  would  be  con- 
served to  the  Church.  Within  such  a  recovered  unity  we 
should  agree  in  claiming  that  the  legitimate  freedom  of  pro- 
phetic ministry  should  be  carefully  preserved;  and  in  antici- 
pating that  many  customs  and  institutions  which  have  been 
developed  in  separate  communities  may  be  preserved  within 
the  larger  unity  of  which  they  have  come  to  form  a  part. 

We  have  carefully  avoided  any  discussion  of  the  merits 
of  any  polity,  or  any  advocacy  of  one  form  in  preference 
to  another.  All  we  have  attempted  is  to  show  how  reunion 
might  be  brought  about,  the  conditions  of  the  existing 
Churches  and  the  convictions  held  regarding  these  questions 
by  their  members  being  what  they  are.  As  we  are  per- 
suaded that  it  is  on  these  lines  and  these  alone  that  the 
subject  can  be  approached  with  any  prospect  of  any  meas- 
ure of  agreement,  we  do  earnestly  ask  the  members  of  the 
Churches  to  which  we  belong  to  examine  carefully  our  con- 


APPENDIX 


elusions  and  the  facts  on  which  they  are  based,  and  to  give 
them  all  the  weight  that  they  deserve. 

In  putting  forward  these  proposals  we  do  so  because  it 
must  be  felt  by  all  good-hearted  Christians  as  an  intolerable 
burden  to  find  themselves  permanently  separated  in  respect 
of  religious  worship  and  communion  from  those  in  whose 
characters  and  lives  they  recognize  the  surest  evidences  of 
the  indwelling  Spirit;  and  because,  as  becomes  increasingly 
evident,  it  is  only  as  a  body,  praying,  taking  counsel,  and 
acting  together,  that  the  Church  can  hope  to  appeal  to  men 
as  the  Body  of  Christ,  that  is  Christ's  visible  organ  and  in- 
strument in  the  world,  in  which  the  Spirit  of  brotherhood 
and  of  love  as  wide  as  humanity  finds  effective  expression. 
(Signed)    G.  W.  Bath:  and  Well:  (Chairman). 

E.  Winton: 

C.  Oxon: 

W.  T.  Davison. 

A.  E.  Garvie. 

H.  L.  Goudge. 

J.  Scott  Lidgett. 

W.  B.  Selbie. 

J.  H.  Shakespeare. 

Eugene  Stock. 

William  Temple. 

Tissington  Tatlow  (Hon.  Sec.) 

H.  G.  Wood. 

March,  1918. 


THE  BISHOP  OF  LONDON'S  PROPOSALS  FOR  RE- 
UNION BETWEEN  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENG- 
LAND AND  THE  WESLEYAN  METHODIST 
CHURCH 

An  Extract  from  an  Address  by  the  Bishop  of 
London/  February,  1919 

Now  my  suggestion  is  this:  that  after  a  certain  date  — 
we  will  call  it  the  first  of  January,  1920,  though  we  can 
hardly  expect  so  early  a  date  —  all  Ordinations  should  be 
so  carried  out  by  both  Churches  as  would  satisfy  the  members 
of  them  both.  You  see,  the  point  is  this  —  at  once,  so  to 
speak,  to  "  run  a  nick  in,"  at  once  to  get  at  a  point  after 
which  the  schism  shall  cease.  If  you  can  get  first  of  all  a 
date  after  which  all  ordinations  will  be  considered  valid  by 
both  bodies,  you  have,  however  long  it  takes,  arrived  at  a 
point  after  which  eventually  and  automatically  the  division 
between  the  two  bodies  will  cease. 

Now,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  whatever  from  our 
point  of  view  in  this  because  we  have  always  had  presbyters 
to  share  with  the  Bishop  the  responsibility  of  ordination. 

This  Address  is  one  of  two  Addresses  given  by  the  Bishop 
of  London,  the  first  in  Kingsway  Hall,  the  second  in  the  Crypt 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  February  and  March,  1919.  They  are 
printed  together  under  the  title  of  The  Necessity  and  Hope  for 
Christian  Union  and  Problems  of  Re-Union,  Wells  Gardner, 
Darton  &  Co.  The  proposals  contained  in  the  Address  are  the 
result  of  two  years'  Conferences  "  of  an  informal  character 
with  the  Wesleyan  Church."  These  Conferences  were  attended 
by  important  members  both  of  the  Church  of  England  and  of 
the  Wesleyan  Church.] 

134 


APPENDIX 


This  seemed  to  be  a  surprise  to  a  body  of  Wesleyans  whom 
I  happened  to  speak  to  about  it.  At  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  at 
ordinations,  I  always  get  as  many  as  possible  presbyters  — 
or  priests,  as  they  are  called  in  our  Church  —  to  lay  their 
hands  with  me  on  the  ordination  candidates.  Sometimes  I 
have  half  a  dozen,  or  even  a  dozen.  Therefore  the  condi- 
tion would  be  no  difficulty  to  us,  because  it  is  our  practice 
already  that  with  the  Bishop  there  should  be  presbyters  lay- 
ing their  hands  upon  the  candidates  for  ordination.  But  you" 
would  have  to  make  this  change  in  your  ordinations,  and  with 
your  presbyters  there  would  be  a  Bishop.  After  all,  when 
you  come  to  think  of  it,  there  is  nothing  whatever  in  such 
a  concession  as  that  to  upset  any  of  your  ideas.  I  am  sure 
it  would  not  have  upset  Wesley  at  all.  This,  then,  is  the 
first  point,  that  there  shall  be,  after  a  certain  date,  such 
ordinations  in  both  bodies  as  shall  satisfy  the  ideas  — 
scruples,  if  you  like  —  of  members  of  both  bodies. 

Then,  the  idea  is  that  the  Wesleyan  Church  in  the  reunited 
Church  shall  be  conserved  as  an  Order  or  Society  or  Con- 
nection, as  it  is:  just  as,  if  you  will  take  an  illustration, 
though  I  hope  not  in  exactly  the  same  way,  as  the  Jesuit 
Order  is  part  of  and  serves  as  an  order  in  the  Church  of 
Rome.  The  Methodist  Church  would  continue  its  class  meet- 
ings and  its  Conferences.  Mind  you,  we  always  have  to  look 
out  for  the  enemy  who  will  misrepresent  us.  The  enemy 
will  say  that  the  Methodist  Church  is  going  to  be  absorbed 
into  the  Church  of  England;  that  is  not  at  all  what  it  is. 
The  Methodist  Church  would  retain  its  Connection  and  its 
order  in  the  reunited  Church,  which  is  a  very  different  story, 
and  go  on  with  its  habits  and  its  practices  undisturbed. 

Of  the  Wesleyan  presidents  and  superintendents,  it  is 
suggested  that  six  or  more,  as  is  thought  advisable,  shall  be 
ordained  bishops,  per  saltum,  as  was  proposed  in  the  last 
Lambeth  Conference  with  regard  to  Presbyterian  ministers 
in  Scotland.    The  object  of  this  is  partly  to  draw  the  two 


136 


APPENDIX 


bodies  together,  partly  that  it  might  make  it  easier  for 
Wesleyan  ministers  who  wished,  in  the  manner  I  am  about 
to  describe,  voluntarily  at  once  to  be  ordained.  They  might 
prefer  to  be  ordained  by  their  Wesleyan  bishops  rather  than 
by  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,  though  I  hope  very 
much  to  have  the  pleasure  and  honor,  if  this  proposed  scheme 
should  come  into  effect,  to  be  allowed  myself  to  take  part 
in  the  ordination  of  the  Wesleyan  ministers,  and  not  let  the 
ordination  be  confined  to  those  who  had  become  Wesleyan 
bishops.    The  more  we  draw  together  the  better. 

Well,  up  to  now,  you  understand  there  does  not  seem  to  be 
any  great  objection  or  difficulty.  But  we  come  to  the  crux 
of  the  matter  when  we  come  to  what  we  must  call  the  transi- 
tional period.  This  transitional  period  depends  on  the 
longevity  of  the  existing  Wesleyan  ministers.  I  hope  they 
will  live  a  long  time,  therefore  I  will  give  them  all,  say,  forty 
years  at  any  rate,  from  the  appointed  date.  We  have  to 
think  out  what  would  happen  during  the  interval  between  the 
date  that  we  fixed  and  the  time  when  shall  have  passed  away 
the  last  Wesleyan  minister  who  does  not  wish  at  once,  as 
many  will,  to  receive  episcopal  ordination,  and  therefore  all 
the  privilegs  of  a  priest  in  the  reunited  Church.  Some  may 
not  wish  to  do  this  and  therefore  we  have  to  think  out  a 
plan  of  how  the  partially  reunited,  but  not  fully  reunited 
Church,  should  work  for  those  thirty  or  forty  years.  I  do 
not  myself  feel  it  is  very  difficult  to  invent  such  a  plan.  All 
the  Wesleyan  ministers  whom  I  have  the  honor  of  speaking 
to  agree  that  if  they  are  to  be  allowed,  say,  to  celebrate  the 
Holy  Communion  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  or  a  parish  church, 
they  must  be  ordained  by  the  bishop  at  once.  That  is  to 
say,  they  feel  quite  clearly  that  our  rules  are  such  and  our 
custom  is  such  that  it  would  entirely  break  up  our  Church 
if  anything  less  were  required.  And  a  great  many,  you  will 
find,  would  like  very  much  the  privilege  of  being  admitted 
full  priests  and  of  celebrating  in  the  old  parish  church,  in 


APPENDIX 


perhaps  the  very  place  where  they  have  been  working,  and 
would  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  of  being  ordained  soon  after 
the  date  fixed  without  waiting  for  the  full  reunion,  and  would 
claim  the  privilege,  and  I  hope  the  joy,  of  being  from  our 
point  of  view  full  priests  in  the  reunited  Church,  with  ail  the 
rights  and  duties  which  that  would  entail. 

Of  course,  if  all  were  willing  to  do  that,  the  matter  is 
simple  because  we  have  not  got  to  wait  so  long  for  the  re- 
united Church.  The  more  who  are  ordained  the  quicker  the 
union  comes.  And  just  look  at  the  way  in  which  we  should 
supplement,  help  one  another.  I  should  simply  love  to  go 
round  to  the  Wesleyan  churches  and  preach  the  Gospel  my- 
self, and  should  find  a  joy  in  putting  myself  side  by  side  with 
those  whose  zeal  and  fervency  I  have  admired  for  years. 
And  you,  my  brothers,  would  find  an  added  joy  in  celebrat- 
ing in  some  beautiful  parish  church  a  choral  Eucharist. 
We  should  both  get  deeper  joy  from  this  union. 

Then  what  about  those  of  the  Wesleyan  ministry  who 
did  not  wish  to  be  ordained?  I  should  hold  that  we  must 
draw  up  a  standard  of  faith  and  doctrine  upon  which  we 
should  both  agree,  on  the  basis  of  the  Creeds.  There  is  very 
little  difficulty  about  that  with  the  Wesleyans.  The  Wes- 
leyan ministers  who  were  not  allowed  to  celebrate  as  priests 
in  the  church  on  accepting  this  should  be  welcomed  in  our 
pulpits.  When  we  have  drawn  that  up  and  arrived,  on  prin- 
ciple, at  union,  then  I  am  for  an  exchange  of  pulpits.  That 
is  very  different  from  exchange  of  pulpits  now.  We  should 
welcome  in  such  a  reunited  Church,  and  welcome  gladly,  as 
preachers  the  Wesleyan  ministers  —  even  if  they  were  not  re- 
ordained  to  celebrate  the  Communion  —  who  would  exercise 
their  power  of  preaching. 

You  would  say,  "  How  would  you  expect,  Bishop,  the 
Wesleyan  minister,  on  the  principle  you  laid  down,  to  be 
ordained  and  not  seem  to  disregard  or  deny  his  orders?" 
By  this  suggested  form  of  protestation,  which  has  been  ap- 


APPENDIX 


proved  by  some  leading  High  Churchmen  as  well  as  by  lead- 
ing Wesleyans: 

Be  it  known  to  all  men  that  the  ordination  of  A  B 
to  the  office  of  deacon  (or  priest)  by  So-and-So,  Lord- 
Bishop  of  So-and-So,  is  not  intended  by  either  party 
to  express  adverse  judgment  on  the  spiritual  value  of  the 
ministry  previously  exercised  by  him,  but  to  provide  for 
the  future  that  his  ministrations  shall  have  all  the  au- 
thority committed  by  God  to  men  for  that  office  such  as 
both  parties  may  recognize  without  scruple. 

You  see  that  declaration  frees  the  consciences  both  of 
the  Churchman  and  of  the  Wesleyan.  It  frees  the  con- 
science of  the  Wesleyan  for  he  says :  "  Be  it  known  unto 
all  men  "  that  he  is  not  denying  the  grace  of  the  Orders 
he  has  previously  received.  The  very  fact  that  this  would 
be  the  recognized  form  of  protestation,  used  before  the  serv- 
ice or  in  the  service,  is  the  safeguard  that  I  said  was  neces- 
sary for  the  Wesleyan  minister.  It  makes  it  quite  clear  that 
there  is  no  denial  on  his  part  of  the  value  of  the  Orders  which 
he  had  received  previously. 

Well,  then  we  get  to  the  rather  more  difficult  question 
of  Confirmation.  Many  Wesleyans  greatly  desire  Confirma- 
tion fully  restored  in  their  Church.  Confirmation,  I  must 
explain  to  those  who  do  not  realize  it,  is  not  looked  upon 
by  us  as  only  a  form  by  which  the  young  candidate  re- 
news his  baptismal  vows.  That  is  not  really  the  force  of 
Confirmation  in  our  opinion.  Confirmation  is  the  falling  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  candidate,  and  constitutes  a  fresh  gift 
which  he  receives.  He  says,  "  I  do  this,"  "  I  do  that,"  but 
that  is  preliminary  to  the  Confirmation,  and  therefore  you 
will  quite  understand  that  when  we  place  Confirmation  as  a 
condition  of  Communion,  it  is  not  merely  that  we  are  "  fenc- 
ing the  Table,"  but  we  believe  that  he  does  receive  in  Con- 


APPENDIX 


firmation  fresh  grace  and  strength  to  prepare  him  for  the 
great  privilege  that  is  coming  in  his  first  Communion. 

When  this  body  of  representatives  sent  from  the  two 
Churches  really  meets,  they  will  have  to  thrash  out  this 
question  of  the  necessity  of  Confirmation.  During  those 
thirty  or  forty  years  —  and  mind  you,  it  will  only  be  for 
thirty  or  forty  years  —  we  shall  have  to  decide  this  — 
whether  the  full  members  of  the  Wesleyan  Church,  who  have 
passed  all  their  tests,  may  be  received  at  the  Lord's  Table 
without  confirmation,  and  whether  we  shall  carry  our  Church 
of  England  people  with  us,  unless  we  say  that  he  who  comes 
to  the  Communion  in  the  parish  church  must  be  confirmed 
first.  That  is  just  one  of  those  points  we  shall  have  to  de- 
cide, but  do  not  tell  me  the  whole  thing  is  going  to  break 
down  over  that.  I  am  unsettled  in  my  own  mind  about  it. 
It  is  one  of  those  points  about  which  I  want  to  reserve  my 
judgment.  It  is  the  only  point  of  real  difficulty.  I  am 
prepared  to  hear  arguments  on  both  sides.  I  am  certain  that 
after  invoking  the  Holy  Spirit  at  some  such  Conference  of 
both  bodies  we  shall  arrive  at  a  settlement  on  that  issue. 

Well,  I  leave  it  at  that  point,  as  I  am  only  able  to  give 
now  this  outline  of  the  scheme.  But  if  you  ask  what  is  to 
be  gained  by  it,  I  answer,  one  rent  less  in  the  seamless  robe 
of  Christ.  If  we  have  mended  that  we  shall  save  enormous 
waste.  When  we  put  our  heads  together,  when  the  bishops 
of  the  Wesleyans  and  the  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England 
look  into  their  buildings  together,  we  shall  be  able  to  close 
this  mission  church  of  the  Church  of  England  or  that  mission 
church  of  the  Wesleyans  if  they  find  that  they  are  really 
competing  with,  and  harming,  one  another.  I  hope  some  of 
those  four  little  chapels  in  Canada  will  be  shut  up  —  I  hope 
three  will  be,  but  at  any  rate  we  might  close  two.  What 
I  believe  more  than  anything  is,  after  all  the  talk  there  has 
been,  a  little  action  would  stimulate  the  whole  cause  of 
Reunion  throughout  the  world,  that  when  once  two  such 


I40 


APPENDIX 


great  and  respected  bodies  are  united  we  might  approach 
other  bodies  with  the  request — "Will  you  not  join  the  re- 
united Church  ?  "  The  report  on  "  Faith  and  Order  " —  I 
have  not  time  to  quote  it  at  length,  but  you  will  find  it  at 
the  end  of  Mr.  Shakespeare's  book  —  the  interim  report  of 
the  sub-committee  is  the  most  hopeful  report  that  you  could 
possibly  imagine.  And  that  report  leads  us  to  hope  that  if 
two  great  bodies  like  our  own  really  became  one  it  would  be 
of  tremendous  importance  to  Reunion  throughout  the  world. 

I  leave  it  thus.  The  necessity  is  a  hard  fact.  The  hope 
you  may  call  a  dream.  But  if  you  do  I  will  reply  in  the 
words  of  the  well  known  poem : 

Dreamer  of  dreams !    We  take  the  taunt  with  gladness, 
Knowing  that  God,  beyond  the  years  we  see, 

Has  wrought  the  dream  that  counts  with  you  for  madness 
Into  the  texture  of  the  world  to  be. 


THE  BISHOP  OF  ZANZIBAR'S  PROPOSALS,  1918 


The  following  account  is  given  of  a  speech  made  at  the 
Conference  by  the  Bishop  of  Zanzibar.  See  pp.  7  and  8  of 
The  Official  Report  of  the  Kikuyu  Conference,  ipi8  (C.M.S. 
Book  Room,  Salisbury  Square,  London). 

The  speech  followed  immediately  on  the  reading  of  the 
"  Proposals  for  an  Alliance  of  Missionary  Societies  in 
B.E.A." 

"  The  Chairman  then  invited  Bishop  Weston  of  Zanzibar, 
who  had  so  kindly  accepted  the  invitation  to  come  to  the 
Conference  and  take  part  in  its  gatherings,  to  address  the 
delegates.  The  Bishop  was  most  cordially  received,  and 
listened  to  with  eager  attention,  as  he  placed  before  the 
Conference  his  view  of  the  controversy  which  had  arisen, 
and  his  present  proposal  for  a  united  church  as  distinct  from 
the  proposals  for  an  alliance  of  missionary  societies  —  then 
before  the  Conference.  In  his  address  he  set  out  his  own 
proposals  as  follows : 

1.  The  acceptance  of  the  fact  of  Christ's  one  Church,  the 
Brotherhood  of  all  Christians,  into  which  we  all  enter  by 
Baptism. 

2.  The  acceptance  of  the  Church's  Book,  the  Holy  Bible, 
as  God's  Word. 

3.  The  acceptance  of  the  Church's  Creeds,  the  expression 
of  the  universal  faith. 

4.  The  acceptance  of  the  fact  that  Episcopacy  has  always 
existed,  and  is  to-day  in  possession  of  the  far  greater  part  of 
Christendom. 

5.  Episcopacy  need  not  involve  us  in  a  monarchical,  dio- 

141 


142 


APPENDIX 


cesan  episcopate.  Many  Bishops  may  serve  one  local  church. 
The  Bishops  should  be  freely  elected,  and  should  rule  with 
the  clergy  and  laity.  Nor  is  it  essential  that  we  hold  any 
one  view  of  episcopacy  on  the  doctrinal  side,  provided  the 
fact  of  its  existence,  and  continuance,  be  admitted. 

6.  Non-episcopal  bodies  accepting  episcopacy  would  re- 
main in  full  exercise  of  their  own  constitutions,  working 
parallel  with  the  present  episcopal  churches. 

7.  The  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  Sacramental  Grace. 
The  Gospel  Sacraments,  so-called,  to  be  used  by  all,  and  all 
bodies  to  admit  the  liberty  of  Christians  to  those  other  rites, 
that  the  Bishop  himself  calls  Sacraments.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  laying-on  of  hands  follows  on  Baptism. 

8.  The  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  the  Church's  Disci- 
pline and  Absolution,  each  body  to  decide  how  the  Absolution 
be  pronounced,  whether  before  the  whole  people,  or  in  pri- 
vate ;  and  how  the  preceding  confession  be  made. 

9.  The  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  Corporate  Worship, 
each  body  using  the  form  and  matter  of  Baptism,  and  a  valid 
form  of  Consecration  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. In  the  rest,  both  in  administering  Sacraments, 
and  in  other  times  of  worship,  each  body  to  be  left  en- 
tirely free. 

"  The  Bishop  assured  the  Conference  that  if  the  non- 
episcopal  bodies  would  accept  some  such  proposals  as  these, 
and  consent  to  some  Episcopal  Consecration  and  ordination 
so  as  to  enable  them  to  minister,  by  invitation,  in  episcopal 
churches,  he  for  his  part  would  gladly  come  before  any  of 
their  congregations,  and  accept  any  form  of  popular  recogni- 
tion. 

"  He  could  not  move  from  his  own  position,  or  allow  doubt 
to  be  cast  upon  his  ministerial  authority  received  by  ordina- 
tion, and  consecration.  But  if  the  Church's  forms  were  held 
to  be  weak  on  the  side  of  popular  recognition,  he  would  not 
refuse  whatever  the  other  bodies  thought  to  be  necessary 


APPENDIX 


to  make  his  ministry  among  them  acceptable.  This  he  could 
do  in  good  faith,  since  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  desires 
a  United  Church,  knows  the  thoughts  and  motives  of  our 
hearts. 

"  He  laid  great  stress  upon  freedom  in  worship,  and  did 
not  hide  from  the  Conference  the  wide  tolerance  it  must 
exercise,  if  it  desired  to  include  Zanzibar  Diocese  in  its 
scheme  of  reunion." 


THE  CONCORDAT.   PROPOSALS  FOR  AN  AP- 
PROACH TOWARDS  UNITY 


Prepared  by  Members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  and  of  the  Congregational  Church 
IN  the  United  States,  March,  1919 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  and  of  Congregational  Churches,  without  any  official 
sanction  and  purely  on  our  private  initiative,  have  conferred 
with  each  other,  partly  by  correspondence  and  partly  by 
meeting,  with  a  view  to  discover  a  method  by  which  a  prac- 
tical approach  towards  making  clear  and  evident  the  visible 
unity  of  believers  in  our  Lord  according  to  His  will,  might 
be  made.  For  there  can  be  no  question  that  such  is  our 
Lord's  will.  The  Church  itself  in  the  midst  of  its  divisions, 
bears  convincing  witness  to  it.  "  There  is  one  Body  and 
one  Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism."  There  has 
never  been,  there  can  never  be,  more  than  one  Body  or  one 
Baptism.  On  this  we  are  agreed.  There  is  one  fellow- 
ship of  the  Baptized,  made  one  by  grace,  and  in  every  case  by 
the  self -same  grace.  And  the  unity  given  and  symbolized  by 
Baptism  is  in  its  very  nature  visible. 

We  are  agreed  that  it  is  our  Lord's  purpose  that  believers 
in  Him  should  be  one  visible  society.  Into  such  a  society, 
which  we  recognize  as  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  they  are 
initiated  by  Baptism;  whereby  they  are  admitted  to  fellow- 
ship with  Him  and  with  one  another.  The  unity  which  is 
essential  to  His  Church's  effective  witness  and  work  in  the 
world  must  express  and  maintain  this  fellowship.  It  cannot 
be  fully  realized  without  community  of  worship,  faith,  and 
order,  including  common  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

144 


APPENDIX 


Such  unity  would  be  compatible  with  a  rich  diversity  in  life 
and  worship. 

We  have  not  discussed  the  origin  of  the  episcopate  his- 
torically or  its  authority  doctrinally ;  but  we  agree  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  recognized  position  of  the  episcopate  in  the 
greater  part  of  Christendom  as  the  normal  nucleus  of  the 
Church's  ministry  and  as  the  organ  of  the  unity  and  con- 
tinuity of  the  Church  is  such  that  the  members  of  the  epis- 
copal Churches  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  abandon  it  in  as- 
senting to  any  basis  of  reunion. 

We  also  agree  to  acknowledge  that  Christian  Churches 
not  accepting  the  episcopal  order  have  been  used  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  His  work  of  enlightening  the  world,  con- 
verting sinners,  and  perfecting  saints.  They  came  into  be- 
ing through  reactions  from  grave  abuses  in  the  Church 
at  the  time  of  their  origin,  and  were  led  in  response  to  fresh 
apprehensions  of  divine  truth  to  give  -expression  to  certain 
necessary  and  permanent  types  of  Christian  experience,  as- 
piration and  fellowship,  and  to  secure  rights  of  Christian 
people  which  had  been  neglected  or  denied. 

No  Christian  community  is  involved  in  the  necessity  of 
disowning  its  past ;  but  it  should  bring  its  own  distinctive 
contribution  not  only  to  the  common  life  of  the  Church,  but 
also  to  its  methods  of  organization.  Many  customs  and 
institutions  which  have  been  developed  in  separate  com- 
munities may  be  preserved  within  the  larger  unity.  What 
we  desire  to  see  is  not  grudging  concession,  but  a  willing 
acceptance  of  the  treasures  of  each  for  the  common  en- 
richment of  the  united  Church. 

To  give  full  effect  to  these  principles  in  relation  to  the 
Churches  to  which  we  respectively  belong  requires  some 
form  of  corporate  union  between  them.  We  greatly  de- 
sire such  corporate  union.  We  also  are  conscious  of  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  bringing  it  about,  including  the 
necessity  for  corporate  action,  even  with  complete  good- 


146 


APPENDIX 


will  on  both  sides.  In  this  situation  we  believe  that  a  prac- 
tical approach  toward  eventual  union  may  be  made  by  the 
establishment  of  intercommunion  in  particular  instances. 
It  is  evident  to  us  that  corporate  union  between  bodies  whose 
members  have  become  so  related  will  thereby  be  facilitated. 
Mutual  understanding  and  sympathy  will  strongly  reinforce 
the  desire  to  be  united  in  a  common  faith  and  order,  and  will 
make  clearer  how  the  respective  contributions  of  each  com- 
munity can  best  be  made  available  to  all. 

We  recognize  as  a  fact,  without  discussing  whether  it  is 
based  upon  sound  foundations,  that  in  the  Episcopal  Churches 
an  apprehension  exists  that  if  episcopally-conferred  orders 
were  added  to  the  authority  which  non-episcopal  ministers 
have  received  from  their  own  communions,  such  orders 
might  not  be  received  and  used  in  all  cases  in  the  sense  or 
with  the  intention  with  which  they  are  conferred.  Upon 
this  point  there  ought  to  be  no  room  for  doubt.  The  sense 
or  intention  in  which  any  particular  order  of  the  ministry 
is  conferred  or  accepted  is  the  sense  or  intention  in  which 
it  is  held  in  the  Universal  Church.  In  conferring  or  in 
accepting  such  ordination  neither  the  bishop  ordaining  nor 
the  minister  ordained  should  be  understood  to  impugn  thereby 
the  efficacy  of  the  minister's  previous  ministry. 

The  like  principle  applies  to  the  ministration  of  sacra- 
ments. The  minister  acts  not  merely  as  the  representative 
of  the  particular  congregation  then  present,  but  in  a  larger 
sense  he  represents  the  Church  Universal ;  and  his  intention 
and  meaning  should  be  our  Lord's  intention  and  meaning  as 
delivered  to  and  held  by  the  Catholic  Church.  To  this  end 
such  sacramental  matter  and  form  should  be  used  as  shall 
exhibit  the  intention  of  the  Church. 

When  communion  has  been  established  between  the  or- 
daining bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  and  the  ordained 
minister  of  another  communion,  appropriate  measures  ought 
to  be  devised  to  maintain  it  by  participating  in  the  sacra- 


APPENDIX 


ment  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  by  mutual  counsel  and  co- 
operation. 

We  are  not  unmindful  that  occasions  may  arise  when  it 
might  become  necessary  to  take  cognizance  of  supposed  error 
of  faith  or  of  conduct,  and  suitable  provisions  ought  to  be 
made  for  such  cases. 

In  view  of  the  limitations  imposed  by  the  law  and  practice 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  upon  its  bishops  with  regard  to  or- 
dination, and  the  necessity  of  obtaining  the  approval  of  the 
General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  the  pro- 
ject we  have  devised,  a  form  of  canonical  sanction  has  been 
prepared  which  is  appended  as  a  schedule  to  this  statement. 
We  who  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  are  prepared 
to  recommend  its  enactment.  We  who  are  members  of  Con- 
gregational Churches  regard  it  as  a  wise  basis  upon  which 
in  the  interests  of  Church  unity,  and  without  sacrifice  on 
either  side,  the  supplementary  ordination  herein  contemplated 
might  be  accepted. 

It  is  our  conviction  that  such  procedure  as  we  here  out- 
line is  in  accordance,  as  far  as  it  goes,  with  our  Lord's  pur- 
poses for  His  Church ;  and  our  fond  hope  is  that  it  would 
contribute  to  heal  the  Church's  divisions.  In  the  mission 
field  it  might  prove  of  great  value  in  uniting  the  work. 
In  small  communities  it  might  put  an  end  to  the  familiar 
scandal  of  more  churches  than  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  peo- 
ple require.  In  the  army  and  navy,  chaplains  so  ordained 
could  minister  acceptably  to  the  adherents  of  Christian  bod- 
ies who  feel  compunctions  about  the  regularity  of  a  non- 
episcopal  ministry.  In  all  places  an  example  of  a  practical 
approach  to  Christian  unity,  with  the  recognition  of  diversi- 
ties in  organization  and  in  worship,  would  be  held  up  before 
the  world.  The  will  to  unity  would  be  strengthened,  preju- 
dices would  be  weakened,  and  the  way  would  become  open  in 
the  light  of  experience  to  bring  about  a  more  complete  or- 
ganic unity  of  Christian  Churches. 


148 


APPENDIX 


While  this  plan  is  the  result  of  conference  in  which  mem- 
bers of  only  one  denomination  of  non-episcopal  Churches 
have  taken  part,  it  is  comprehensive  enough  to  include  in  its 
scope  ministers  of  all  other  non-episcopal  communions ;  and 
we  earnestly  invite  their  sympathetic  consideration  and  con- 
currence. 

New  York,  March  12,  1919. 

Boyd  Vincent,  Bishop  of  Southern  Ohio. 

Philip  M.  Rhinelander,  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania. 

Wm.  Cabell  Brown,  Bishop  of  Virginia. 

Hughell  Fosbroke,  Dean  of  the  Gen.  Theol.  Seminary. 

William  T.  Manning,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York. 

Charles  L.  Slattery,  Rector  of  Grace  Church,  New  York. 

Howard  B.  St.  George.  Professor  in  Nashotah  Seminary. 

Francis  Lynde  Stetson. 

Robert  H.  Gardiner. 

George  Zabriskie,  Chancellor  of  the  Dioces€  of  New  York. 

Hon.  Sec,  23  Gramercy  Park,  New  York. 
W^illiam  H.  Day,  Moderator  of  Congregational  National 

Council. 

Hubert  C.  Herring,  Sec.  of  National  Council. 

Charles  F.  Carter,  Chairman  of  Ex.  Committee  of  Na- 
tional Council. 

Williston  Walker,  of  the  Commission  on  Organization. 

Herbert  S.  Smith,  of  Commission  on  Unity. 

William  E.  Barton,  of  Commission  on  Organization. 

Nehemiah  Boynton,  Ex.  Moderator  of  National  Council. 

Raymond  Calkins,  Chairman  of  Congregational  Commis- 
sion on  Unity. 

Arthur  F.  Pratt,  Sec.  of  Commission  on  Unity. 

William  T.  McElveen,  of  Commission  on  Unity. 

Newman  Sm\i:h,  of  Commission  on  Unity.  Hon.  Sec,  54 
Trumbull  Street,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


APPENDIX 


149 


Schedule 
form  of  proposed  canon 

§  I.  In  case  any  minister  who  has  not  received  episcopal 
ordination  shall  desire  to  be  ordained  by  a  Bishop  of  this 
Church  to  the  Diaconate  and  to  the  Priesthood  without  giv- 
ing up  or  denying  his  membership  or  his  ministry  in  the 
Communion  to  which  he  belongs,  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
or  Missionary  District  in  which  he  lives,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Standing  Committee  or  the  Council  of 
Advice,  may  confirm  and  ordain  him. 

§  II.  The  minister  desiring  to  be  so  ordained  shall  sat- 
isfy the  Bishop  that  he  has  resided  in  the  United  States  at 
least  one  year;  that  he  has  been  duly  baptized  with  water  in 
the  name  of  the  Trinity;  that  he  holds  the  historic  faith  of 
the  Church  as  contained  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the 
Nicene  Creed;  that  there  is  no  sufficient  objection  on  grounds 
physical,  mental,  moral  or  spiritual ;  and  that  the  ecclesi- 
astical authority  to  which  he  is  subject  in  the  Communion 
to  which  he  belongs  consents  to  such  ordination. 

§  III.  At  the  time  of  his  ordination  the  person  to  be 
ordained  shall  subscribe  and  make  in  the  presence  of  the 
Bishop  a  declaration  that  he  believes  the  Holy  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  the  Word  of  God 
and  to  contain  all  things  necessary  to  salvation;  that  in  the 
ministration  of  Baptism  he  will  unfailingly  baptize  with 
water  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  and  (if  he  is  being  ordained  to  the  Priesthood) 
that  in  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  he  will  in- 
variably use  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  and  will  in- 
clude in  the  service  the  words  and  acts  of  our  Lord  in  the 
institution  of  the  Sacrament,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  (un- 
less one  of  these  Creeds  has  been  used  in  the  service  imme- 
diately preceding  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion) 


150  ATPICNDIX 

■  1 

the  Apostles'  or  the  Nicene  Creed  as  the  symhol  of  the  faith 
of  the  Holy  Catholic  Chureh ;  that  when  thereto  invited 
hy  the  Bishop  of  this  Chureh  having  jnrisiliction  in  the 
place  where  he  livvs,  he  will  (unless  unavoidably  prevented) 
meet  with  such  Bishop  for  Conununion  ami  for  counsel  and 
cooperation;  and  that  he  will  hold  himself  answerahle  to 
the  Bishop  of  this  Church  haviufj  jurisdiction  in  the  place 
where  he  lives,  or,  if  there  be  no  such  Bishop,  to  the  Pre- 
siding Bishop  of  this  Church,  in  case  he  he  called  in  question 
with  respect  to  error  of  faith  or  of  conduct. 

45  IV.  In  case  a  person  so  ordained  be  charged  with 
error  of  faith  or  of  conduct  he  shall  have  reasonable  notice 
of  the  ciiari;e  and  reasonable  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and 
the  procedure  shall  he  similar  to  the  procedure  in  the  case 
of  a  clergyman  of  this  Church  charged  with  the  like  of- 
fense. The  sentence  shall  always  be  pronounced  hy  the 
Bishop  and  shall  he  such  as  a  clergyman  of  this  Church 
would  he  liable  to.  It  shall  be  certilied  to  the  ecclesiastical 
authority  to  whicli  the  defendant  is  responsible  in  any  other 
Communion.  If  he  shall  have  been  tried  before  a  tribunal  of 
the  Communion  in  wliich  he  has  exercised  his  ministry,  the 
judgment  of  such  tribunal  proceeding  in  the  due  exercise  of 
its  jurisdiction  shall  be  taken  as  conclusive  evidence  of  facts 
thereby  adjudged. 

{5  V.  A  minister  so  ordained  may  ofTiciate  in  a  Diocese 
or  Missionary  District  of  this  Church  when  licen.sed  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  thereof,  but  he  shall  not  become  the 
Rector  or  a  minister  of  any  parish  or  congregation  of  this 
Church  tuitil  he  shall  have  subscribed  and  made  to  the  Ordi- 
nary a  declaration  in  writing  whereby  he  shall  solcmidy  en- 
gage to  conform  to  the  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship  of 
this  Cinirch.  Upon  his  making  such  declaration  and  being 
duly  elected  Rector  or  minister  of  a  parish  or  congrega- 
tion of  this  Church,  and  complying  with  the  canons  of  this 
Church  and  of  the  Diocese  or  Missionary  District  in  that 


APPENDIX 


behalf,  he  shall  become  for  all  purposes  a  Minister  of  this 
Church. 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  General  Convention 

Whereas,  at  sundry  times  in  past  years,  and  especially 
in  1853,  in  1880,  and  in  1886,  this  General  Convention,  and 
the  House  of  Bishops  thereof,  did  set  forth  certain  declara- 
tions relating  to  the  Unity  of  the  Church  and  the  steps  which, 
under  God,  might  be  taken  to  lead  to  such  Unity; 

And  whereas,  there  have  now  been  laid  before  General 
Convention  certain  "  Proposals  for  an  Approach  towards 
Unity,"  to  which  are  attached  the  signatures  of  distinguished 
members  of  Congregational  Churches  and  of  this  Church, 
which  proposals  ask  for  the  enactment  of  appropriate  legis- 
lation whereby  a  Bishop  may  be  authorized  to  confer  the  or- 
ders of  the  Diaconate  and  the  Priesthood  upon  Ministers 
who  have  not  received  Episcopal  ordination,  under  certain 
conditions  therein  enumerated; 

And  whereas,  these  Proposals  afford  a  hopeful  basis  for 
negotiations  looking  toward  that  end. 

Be  it  Resolved,  the  House  of  Bishops  concurring: 

I.  That  the  General  Convention  recognizes  with  pro- 
found gratitude  to  Almighty  God  the  earnest  desire  of  these 
representative  members  of  Congregational  Churches  and  of 
this  Church  to  find  a  way  by  which  the  first  step  towards 
eventual  Church  unity  may  be  taken,  and  especially  the 
irenic  attitude  of  those  who  are  not  in  communion  with  this 
Church,  but  who  have  indicated  their  desire  to  enter  into 
certain  relations  with  it  for  the  furtherance  of  that  unity 
for  which  we  together  pray. 

n.  That  as  a  step  toward  the  accomplishment  of  so 
great  a  purpose,  this  Church  hereby  declares  its  willing- 
ness to  initiate  action  which  may  make  possible  the  ordina- 
tion as  Deacons  and  as  Priests  of  Ministers  in  other  Chris- 
tian bodies  who  accept  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  revealed 


APPENDIX 


Word  of  God,  the  Nicene  Creed  as  the  sufficient  statement 
of  the  Christian  Faith,  and  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  under  conditions  which  are  stated 
in  the  aforementioned  Proposals  for  an  Approach  toward 
Unity,  whenever  evidence  shall  be  laid  by  any  such  appli- 
cant Minister  before  the  Bishop  of  this  Church  having  juris- 
diction in  the  place  in  which  such  Minister  resides  of  his 
acceptance  of  the  principles  set  forth  in  those  Proposals. 

We,  however,  direct  the  Joint  Commission  to  be  consti- 
tuted that  in  proposing  such  legislation  the  following  points 
shall  be  carefully  considered: 

(a)  That  the  Congregation,  if  any,  in  which  such  Min- 
ister officiates  shall  declare  through  its  accustomed  rep- 
resentatives its  desire  for  such  ordination  on  behalf  of  its 
Minister  and  its  purpose  to  receive  in  future  the  ministra- 
tions and  the  sacraments  of  one  who  shall  have  been  ordained 
to  the  Priesthood  by  a  Bishop. 

(b)  That  every  Minister  so  ordained  shall,  in  celebrating 
Holy  Communion,  invariably  incorporate  in  a  Prayer  of 
Consecration  the  Words  of  Our  Lord  in  instituting  that 
Sacrament,  and  also  a  suitable  Oblation  and  Invocation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

(c)  That  he  shall  in  no  case  administer  the  Holy  Com- 
munion to  an  unbaptized  person.  And  this  Church  will  hope- 
fully anticipate  the  use  of  the  Apostolic  practice  of  Con- 
firmation. 

HL  That  a  Joint  Commission  of  five  Bishops,  five  Pres- 
byters, and  five  Laymen  be  appointed  to  continue  confer- 
ence with  the  Congregational  Signatories  to  the  said  "Pro- 
posals," and  to  report  to  the  next  General  Convention. 


PLAN  OF  UNION  ADOPTED  BY  THE  AMERICAN 
COUNCIL  ON  ORGANIC  UNION  OF 
CHURCHES  OF  CHRIST 

Held  in  Witherspoon  Hall,  Philadelphia,  Pa, 
February  3-6,  1920 

This  Council  instructs  the  Ad  Interim  Committee  to  pre- 
sent the  Plan  to  the  supreme  governing  or  advisory  bodies 
of  the  several  communions  in  such  manner  as  the  Committee 
shall  devise  and  at  its  discretion  to  such  other  evangelical 
denominations  as  may  not  here  be  represented. 

William  H.  Roberts,  President,  Witherspoon  Build- 
ing, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

RuFUS  W.  Miller,  Secretary,  15th  and  Race  Streets, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Preamble  : 

Whereas:  We  desire  to  share,  as  a  common  heritage,  the 
faith  of  the  Christian  Church,  which  has,  from  time  to  time, 
found  expression  in  great  historic  statements;  and 

Whereas:  We  all  share  belief  in  God  our  Father;  in  Jesus 
Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Saviour;  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  our 
Guide  and  Comforter;  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  through 
vi^hich  God's  eternal  purpose  of  salvation  is  to  be  proclaimed 
and  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  to  be  realized  on  earth;  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  containing 
God's  revealed  will,  and  in  the  life  eternal;  and 

Whereas  :  Having  the  same  spirit  and  owning  the  same 
Lord,  we  none  the  less  recognize  diversity  of  gifts  and  min- 
istrations for  whose  exercise  due  freedom  must  always  be 
afforded  in  forms  of  worship  and  in  modes  of  operation: 

153 


154 


APPENDIX 


Plan: 

Now,  we  the  Churches  hereto  assenting  as  hereinafter 
provided  in  Article  VI  do  hereby  agree  to  associate  ourselves 
in  a  visible  body  to  be  known  as  the  "  United  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America,"  for  the  furtherance  of  the  redemptive 
work  of  Christ  in  the  world.  This  body  shall  exercise  in 
behalf  of  the  constituent  Churches  the  functions  delegated 
to  it  by  this  instrument,  or  by  subsequent  action  of  the  con- 
stituent Churches,  which  shall  retain  the  full  freedom  at 
present  enjoyed  by  them  in  all  matters  not  so  delegated. 

Accordingly,  the  Churches  hereto  assenting  and  hereafter 
thus  associated  in  such  visible  body  do  mutually  covenant  and 
agree  as  follows : 

I.  Autonomy  in  purely  denominational  affairs. 

In  the  interest  of  the  freedom  of  each  and  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  all,  each  constituent  Church  reserves  the  right  to  re- 
tain its  credal  statements,  its  form  of  government  in  the 
conduct  of  its  own  affairs,  and  its  particular  mode  of  wor- 
ship: 

In  taking  this  step,  we  look  forward  with  confident  hope  to 
that  complete  unity  toward  which  we  believe  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  leading  us.  Once  we  shall  have  cooperated  whole- 
heartedly, in  such  visible  body,  in  the  holy  activities  of  the 
work  of  the  Church,  we  are  persuaded  that  our  differences 
will  be  minimized  and  our  union  become  more  vital  and  ef- 
fectual. 

II.  The  Council.    (How  Constituted.) 

The  United  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  shall  act 
through  a  Council  and  through  such  Executive  and  Judicial 
Commissions,  or  Administrative  Boards,  working  ad  interim, 
as  such  Council  may  from  time  to  time  appoint  and  ordain. 

The  Council  shall  convene  as  provided  for  in  Article  VI 
and  every  second  year  thereafter.    It  may  also  be  convened 


APPENDIX 


at  any  time  in  such  manner  as  its  own  rules  may  prescribe. 
The  Council  shall  be  a  representative  body. 

Each  constituent  Church  shall  be  entitled  to  representation 
therein  by  an  equal  number  of  ministers  and  of  lay  mem- 
bers. 

The  basis  of  representation  shall  be :  two  ministers  and 
two  lay  members  for  the  first  one  hundred  thousand  or 
fraction  thereof  of  its  communicants ;  and  two  ministers  and 
two  lay  members  for  each  additional  one  hundred  thou- 
sand or  major  fraction  thereof. 

III.  The  Council.    (Its  Working.) 

The  Council  shall  adopt  and  promulgate  its  own  By-Laws 
and  rules  of  procedure  and  order.  It  shall  define  the  func- 
tions of  its  own  officers,  prescribe  the  mode  of  their  selec- 
tion and  their  compensation,  if  any.  It  shall  provide  for  its 
budget  of  expense  by  equitable  apportionment  of  the  same 
among  the  constituent  Churches  through  their  supreme  gov- 
erning or  advisory  bodies. 

IV.  Relation  of  Council  and  Constituent  Churches. 

The  supreme  governing  or  advisory  bodies  of  the  constit- 
uent Churches  shall  effectuate  the  decisions  of  the  Council 
by  general  or  specific  deliverance  or  other  mandate  when- 
ever it  may  be  required  by  the  law  of  a  particular  state, 
or  the  charter  of  a  particular  Board,  or  other  ecclesiastical 
corporation ;  but,  except  as  limited  by  this  Plan,  shall  con- 
tinue the  exercise  of  their  several  powers  and  functions  as 
the  same  exist  under  the  denominational  constitution. 

The  Council  shall  give  full  faith  and  credit  to  the  authen- 
ticated acts  and  records  of  the  several  governing  or  advisory 
bodies  of  the  constituent  Churches. 

V.  Specific  Functions  of  the  Council. 

In  order  to  prevent  overlapping,  friction,  competition  or 


156 


APPENDIX 


waste  in  the  work  of  the  existing  denominational  boards  or 
administrative  agencies,  and  to  further  the  efficiency  of  that 
degree  of  cooperation  which  they  have  already  achieved 
in  their  work  at  home  and  abroad : 

(a)  The  Council  shall  harmonize  and  unify  the  work  of 
the  United  Churches. 

(b)  It  shall  direct  such  consolidation  of  their  missionary 
activities  as  well  as  of  particular  Churches  in  over-churched 
areas  as  is  consonant  with  the  law  of  the  land  or  of  the  par- 
ticular denomination  affected.  Such  consolidation  may  be 
progressively  achieved,  as  by  the  uniting  of  the  boards  or 
Churches  of  any  two  or  more  constituent  denominations,  or 
may  be  accelerated,  delayed,  or  dispensed  with,  as  the  in- 
terests of  the  Kingdom  of  God  may  require. 

(c)  If  and  when  any  two  or  more  constituent  Churches, 
by  their  supreme  governing  or  advisory  bodies,  submit  to 
the  Council  for  its  arbitrament  any  matter  of  mutual  concern, 
not  hereby  already  covered,  the  Council  shall  consider  and 
pass  upon  such  matter  so  submitted. 

(d)  The  Council  shall  undertake  inspirational  and  educa- 
tional leadership  of  such  sort  and  measure  as  may  be  proper, 
under  the  powers  delegated  to  it  by  the  constituent  Churches 
in  the  fields  of  Evangelism,  Social  Service,  Religious  Educa- 
tion, and  the  like. 

VI.  The  assent  of  each  constituent  Church  to  this  Plan 
shall  be  certified  from  its  supreme  governing  or  advisory 
body  by  the  appropriate  officers  thereof  to  the  Chairman  of 
the  Ad  Interim  Committee,  which  shall  have  power  upon  a 
two-thirds  vote  to  convene  the  Council  as  soon  as  the  as- 
sent of  at  least  six  denominations  shall  have  been  so  certified. 

VII.  Amendments. 

This  plan  of  organic  union  shall  be  subject  to  amendment 
only  by  the  constituent  Churches,  but  the  Council  may  over- 
ture to  such  bodies  any  amendment  which  shall  have  origin- 


APPENDIX 


ated  in  said  Council  and  shall  have  been  adopted  by  a  three- 
fourths  vote. 

Note:  The  Churches  represented  in  the  Council  were  the 
Armenian,  Baptist,  The  Christian  Church,  Christian  Union 
of  United  States,  Congregational,  Disciples,  Evangelical 
Synod  of  North  America,  Friends  (two  branches),  Methodist 
(Primitive),  Methodist  Episcopal,  Moravian,  Presbyterian 
Church  in  United  States  of  America,  Protestant  Episcopal, 
Reformed  Episcopal,  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States, 
United  Presbyterian,  Welsh  Presbyterian. 

"  The  attention  of  the  constituent  Churches  is  called  to  the 
fact  that  the  assent  called  for  by  Article  VI  of  the  Plan 
should  be  secured  in  conformity  with  the  constitution  of  each 
constituent  Church. 


DECLARATION  ON  THE  REUNION  OF 
CHRISTENDOM 


Issued  by  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  the  Angli- 
can Communion  Assembled  in  Conference  at 
Lambeth  Palace,  August,  1920 

An  appeal  to  all  christian  people 

We,  Archbishops,  Bishops,  Metropolitans,  and  other 
Bishops  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  in  full  communion 
with  the  Church  of  England,  in  Conference  assembled,  real- 
izing the  responsibility  which  rests  upon  us  at  this  time, 
and  sensible  of  the  sympathy  and  the  prayers  of  many,  both 
within  and  without  our  own  Communion,  make  this  appeal  to 
all  Christian  people. 

We  acknowledge  all  those  who  believe  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  have  been  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  as  sharing  with  us  membership  in  the  universal 
Church  of  Christ  which  is  His  Body.  We  believe  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  called  us  in  a  very  solemn  and  special  man- 
ner to  associate  ourselves  in  penitence  and  prayer  with  all 
those  who  deplore  the  divisions  of  Christian  people,  and  are 
inspired  by  the  vision  and  hope  of  a  visible  unity  of  the 
whole  Church. 

I.  We  believe  that  God  wills  fellowship.  By  God's  own 
act  this  fellowship  was  made  in  and  through  Jesus  Christ, 
and  its  life  is  in  His  Spirit.  We  believe  that  it  is  God's 
purpose  to  manifest  this  fellowship,  so  far  as  this  world  is 
concerned,  in  an  outward,  visible,  and  united  society,  holding 
one  faith,  having  its  own  recognized  officers,  using  God- 

158 


APPENDIX 


given  means  of  grace,  and  inspiring  all  its  members  to  the 
world-wide  service  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  is  what 
we  mean  by  the  Catholic  Church. 

II.  This  united  fellowship  is  not  visible  in  the  world  to- 
day. On  the  one  hand  there  are  other  ancient  episcopal 
Communions  in  East  and  West,  to  whom  ours  is  bound  by 
many  ties  of  common  faith  and .  tradition.  On  the  other 
hand  there  are  the  great  non-episcopal  Communions,  stand- 
ing for  rich  elements  of  truth,  liberty,  and  life  which  might 
otherwise  have  been  obscured  or  neglected.  With  them  we 
are  closely  linked  by  many  affinities,  racial,  historical,  and 
spiritual.  We  cherish  the  earnest  hope  that  all  these  Com- 
munions, and  our  own,  may  be  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the 
unity  of  the  Faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God. 
But  in  fact  we  are  all  organized  in  different  groups,  each 
one  keeping  to  itself  gifts  that  rightly  belong  to  the  whole 
fellowship,  and  tending  to  live  its  own  life  apart  from  the 
rest. 

III.  The  causes  of  division  lie  deep  in  the  past,  and  are 
by  no  means  simple  or  wholly  blameworthy.  Yet  none  can 
doubt  that  self-will,  ambition,  and  lack  of  charity  among 
Christians  have  been  principal  factors  in  the  mingled  process, 
and  that  these,  together  with  blindness  to  the  sin  of  disunion, 
are  still  mainly  responsible  for  the  breaches  of  Christendom. 
We  acknowledge  this  condition  of  broken  fellowship  to  be 
contrary  to  God's  will,  and  we  desire  frankly  to  confess  our 
share  in  the  guilt  of  thus  crippling  the  Body  of  Christ  and 
hindering  the  activity  of  His  Spirit. 

IV.  The  times  call  us  to  a  new  outlook  and  new  measures. 
The  Faith  cannot  be  adequately  apprehended  and  the  battle 
of  the  Kingdom  cannot  be  worthily  fought  while  the  body  is 
divided,  and  is  thus  unable  to  grow  up  into  the  fullness  of  the 
life  of  Christ.  The  time  has  come,  we  believe,  for  all  the 
separated  groups  of  Christians  to  agree  in  forgetting  the 
things  which  are  behind  and  reaching  out  towards  the  goal 


i6o 


APPENDIX 


of  a  reunited  Catholic  Church.  The  removal  of  the  barriers 
which  have  arisen  between  them  will  only  be  brought  about 
by  a  new  comradeship  of  those  whose  faces  are  definitely  set 
this  way. 

The  vision  which  rises  before  us  is  that  of  a  Church,  gen- 
uinely Catholic,  loyal  to  all  Truth,  and  gathering  into  its 
fellowship  all  "  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians," 
within  whose  visible  unity  all  the  treasures  of  faith  and 
order,  bequeathed  as  a  heritage  by  the  past  to  the  present, 
shall  be  possessed  in  common,  and  made  serviceable  to  the 
whole  Body  of  Christ.  Within  this  unity  Christian  Com- 
munions now  separated  from  one  another  would  retain  much 
that  has  long  been  distinctive  in  their  methods  of  worship 
and  service.  It  is  through  a  rich  diversity  of  life  and  devo- 
tion that  the  unity  of  the  whole  fellowship  will  be  fulfilled. 

V.  This  means  an  adventure  of  goodwill  and  still  more  of 
faith,  for  nothing  less  is  required  than  a  new  discovery  of 
the  creative  resources  of  God.  To  this  adventure  we  are 
convinced  that  God  is  now  calling  all  the  members  of  His 
Church. 

VI.  We  believe  that  the  visible  unity  of  the  Church  will  be 
found  to  involve  the  whole-hearted  acceptance  of : 

The  Holy  Scriptures,  as  the  record  of  God's  revelation  of 
Himself  to  man,  and  as  being  the  rule  and  ultimate  standard 
of  faith ;  and  the  Creed  commonly  called  Nicene,  as  the  suffi- 
cient statement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  either  it  or  the 
Apostles'  Creed  as  the  Baptismal  confession  of  belief: 

The  divinely  instituted  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the 
Holy  Communion,  as  expressing  for  all  the  corporate  life  of 
the  whole  fellowship  in  and  with  Christ : 

A  ministry  acknowledged  by  every  part  of  the  Church  as 
possessing  not  only  the  inward  call  of  the  Spirit,  but  also  the 
commission  of  Christ  and  the  authority  of  the  whole  body. 

VII.  May  we  not  reasonably  claim  that  the  episcopate  is 


APPENDIX 


l6l 


the  one  means  of  providing  such  a  ministry?  It  is  not  that 
we  call  in  question  for  a  moment  the  spiritual  reality  of  the 
ministries  of  those  communions  which  do  not  possess  the 
episcopate.  On  the  contrary  we  thankfully  acknowledge  that 
these  ministries  have  been  manifestly  blessed  and  owned  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  effective  means  of  grace.  But  we  submit 
that  considerations  alike  of  history  and  of  present  experience 
justify  the  claim  which  we  make  on  behalf  of  the  episcopate. 
Moreover,  we  would  urge  that  it  is  now  and  will  prove  to  be 
in  the  future  the  best  instrument  for  maintaining  the  unity 
and  continuity  of  the  Church.  But  we  greatly  desire  that 
the  office  of  a  bishop  should  be  everywhere  exercised  in  a 
representative  and  constitutional  manner,  and  more  truly 
express  all  that  ought  to  be  involved  for  the  life  of  the 
Christian  Family  in  the  title  of  Father-in-God.  Nay  more, 
we  eagerly  look  forward  to  the  day  when  through  its  ac- 
ceptance in  a  united  Church  we  may  all  share  in  that  grace 
which  is  pledged  to  the  members  of  the  whole  body  in  the 
apostolic  rite  of  the  laying-on  of  hands,  and  in  the  joy  and 
fellowship  of  a  Eucharist  in  which  as  one  family  we  may 
together,  without  any  doubtfulness  of  mind,  offer  to  the  one 
Lord  our  worship  and  service. 

VIII.  We  believe  that,  for  all,  the  truly  equitable  approach 
to  union  is  by  the  way  of  mutual  deference  to  one  another's 
consciences.  To  this  end,  we  who  send  forth  this  appeal 
would  say  that  if  the  authorities  of  other  Communions  should 
so  desire,  we  are  persuaded  that,  terms  of  union  having  been 
otherwise  satisfactorily  adjusted,  bishops  and  clergy  of  our 
communion  would  willingly  accept  from  these  authorities  a 
form  of  commission  or  recognition  which  would  commend 
our  ministry  to  their  congregations,  as  having  its  place  in 
the  one  family  life.  It  is  not  in  our  power  to  know  how  far 
this  suggestion  may  be  acceptable  to  those  to  whom  we  offer 
it.  We  can  only  say  that  we  offer  it  in  all  sincerity  as  a 
token  of  our  longing  that  all  ministries  of  grace,  theirs  and 


APPENDIX 


ours,  shall  be  available  for  the  service  of  our  Lord  in  a 
united  Church. 

It  is  our  hope  that  the  same  motive  would  lead  ministers 
who  have  not  received  it  to  accept  a  commission  through 
episcopal  ordination,  as  obtaining  for  them  a  ministry 
throughout  the  whole  fellowship. 

In  so  acting  no  one  of  us  could  possibly  be  taken  to  repu- 
diate his  past  ministry.  God  forbid  that  any  man  should 
repudiate  a  past  experience  rich  in  spiritual  blessings  for 
himself  and  others.  Nor  would  any  of  us  be  dishonoring  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whose  call  led  us  all  to  our  several  minis- 
tries, and  whose  power  enabled  us  to  perform  them.  We 
shall  be  publicly  and  formally  seeking  additional  recognition 
of  a  new  call  to  wider  service  in  a  reunited  Church,  and  im- 
ploring for  ourselves  God's  grace  and  strength  to  fulfill  the 
same. 

IX.  The  spiritual  leadership  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
days  to  come,  for  which  the  world  is  manifestly  waiting,  de- 
pends upon  the  readiness  with  which  each  group  is  prepared 
to  make  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  a  common  fellowship,  a 
common  ministry,  and  a  common  service  to  the  world. 

We  place  this  ideal  first  and  foremost  before  ourselves 
and  our  own  people.  We  call  upon  them  to  make  the  effort 
to  meet  the  demands  of  a  new  age  with  a  new  outlook.  To 
all  other  Christian  people  whom  our  words  may  reach  we 
make  the  same  appeal.  We  do  not  ask  that  any  one  Com- 
munion should  consent  to  be  absorbed  in  another.  We  do 
ask  that  all  should  unite  in  a  new  and  great  endeavor  to 
recover  and  to  manifest  to  the  world  the  unity  of  the  Body 
of  Christ  for  which  He  prayed. 


PBIirrED  IN  THB  UNITED  STATES  OT  AUSIUOA 


Date  Due 


i  fr  o  -  o 

17 

A7r  20  '39 

If 

M\  Iff 

